Fly Away
by Reily96
Summary: WW/ST-AU Hyrule is now The Pride of the Goddesses, a nation ship that scuffles with the Gerudo nation ship. Link, Itaav, and the princess, however, have dreams that extend past the boundaries of the Pride. One fateful day, an attack from the Gerudo ship ties the fates of these three together - as well as that of the world's.
1. Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

WHY HELLO THERE. I've come up with a new story. A full and better summary can be found on my profile page. I encourage you to look at that one. And this story is my new baby. I WILL SMOTHER IT WITH LOVE~ because when I came up with the basic idea for it around four days ago, I loved it. LOVED it. Since then, I've been focusing on the plot for this instead of _Forgotten Legends_. Which isn't much of an issue. I wasn't really paying attention to it much, but FL is like... almost done. I'm so used to writing like 50+ chapter stories that it never occurred to me I was so near to the end on FL. So I figured it was okay to begin this~

First thing's first, the full title for this story is _Fly Away to Open Sea_, but I'm a lazy bum who like to abbreviate by simply saying FA. 8D

Our cast is: Link, Vaati (under the name of Itaav here), Zelda (duh), Nabooru, Ganondorf, Cole, and Malladus. Yeah, oh em geez, so many bad gaiz, I know. But only one shall be our token villain. Who? Well, we'll get to that.

Parings: Ah yes, pairings. We've got Ganondorf/Nabooru, Vaati/Zelda, and Link/Zelda. In other words, throughout this story both Link and Vaati will be Zelda's love interest. Which will it be in the end... even I'm not sure. I suppose I'll find out as I keep writing.

Will talk more at the bottom~

* * *

From the journal of Buckfee Sallas:

_It's hard to believe that it has been nearly a year since that fateful day… the day the goddesses warned us of their plan to flood Hyrule. Heck, it's hard to believe that the goddesses said that at all. But they did. Nobody would have believed it if they hadn't come down themselves._

_I still don't quite remember them exactly. I just remember they were terribly beautiful – unreal, really. Nobody, except the sages, could look at them directly for very long. Their words of apocalypse all had us frozen in fear. The evil that the Hero of Time had sealed would break loose, and in order to stop it the goddesses would flood everything. They told us the Hero would not return and in order for us all to be saved, we would have to begin planning a means of survival. They would flood us in one hundred years. _

_That fateful day marks the first day of the plans for _The Pride of the Goddess._ Personally I think _The Pride of Buckfee Sallas_ is a much better name for it. It's my child, after all. Well, one of them anyways. Hope my wife doesn't read this… _

_Construction still hasn't begun on it. Me and my assistant engineers are still working out the exact blueprints for it. It's going to be an enormous ship, a floating country! The size will be unbelievable, so much so that I'm not sure we can get it done in the time the goddess allotted for us. Yes, a century is very long but for something this huge. To our knowledge, the other races will be joining us as well until we can discuss the matter with them. _

_-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

_The blueprints have finally been finished. We're going to begin production on ship as soon as possible. _

_The Zoras declined our offer, saying they were people of the sea. They could survive the flood. I wonder…_

_The Gorons accepted our offer. They're helping too, which is immensely useful. Their skills in metal craft and forging will cut down the production time for _The Pride_. Even so, I still wonder about the time._

_We could never find a trace of the Kokiri, whatever they are. The king insisted on inviting them, but I'd never heard of them until then. Needless to say, they either don't exist and are a bunch of legends, or want nothing to do with us. The actual Deku people, however, jumped at the offer. They will be joining us, and supplying us with parts that their many connections allow them to get. Heh, who would've thought those outrageous little merchants would come in handy. _

_Apparently, the king even invited the Gerudo. Much too nice for his own good, I think. But it doesn't matter. In their usual fashion, the Gerudo declined with utter ferocity, saying that they'd plan their own form of survival. _

_I don't particularly mind, because that means my enormously huge baby won't have to be as enormously huge as I first thought._

_There'll be the central ship. That will have the inner wall. The inner wall will hold those of high class and royalty. The king wasn't fond of this at first, but all the fancy nobles outnumbered him on that vote. Whatever. They get their privacy. So do the civilians. There's the outer wall for that one. That's where all the civilians will live and where the commerce will take place and all that. Then there are the outer ships. All connected to main ship by massive bridges and corridors, they'll each have an individual purpose. There will be the agricultural ship. That's where we'll grow trees for lumber and farm for crops. Then the livestock ship. That one's easy enough to guess. There are two more ships, the scholar ship and what we've come to dub as the "Goron Feeding Ground." I may have designed that particular ship but I have no idea what it's really for. The gorons were very picky when they said that area was exclusive for them. I think that means they may stick dodongos in there. I don't really care much so long as the beasts don't get loose in other parts of my ship. That would be disastrous. But I understand why they need them. How else would they keep their food supply if they didn't have the dodongo to produce rock for them?_

_Still, the power source for this concerns me. It's such a massive ship… and yes, I have masts designed for it, but wind power is the least of our worries. A salt water steam engine is just… impossible! Or rather, it's possible, but short lived. The salt would corrode the engines within years; we wouldn't have the supplies necessary for constant replacement of them, even with the Gorons. What about storms and hurricanes? And on days with no wind, how will we move? I have no idea._

_-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

_The power problem is now the least of my worries, thank the goddesses. Another amazing thing happened. Something I thought I would never dream of seeing… The Great Fairies came and offered us their help in exchange for their own kind to live aboard our ship! I've no idea what fairies would need to worry about or their housing… but they said our current plans were adequate! Needless to say, it's amazing! The Great Fairies are our power source! We have engines now, engines that don't need salt water steam! Already we're having engineers train in magical arts to better understand the workings behind our new power source!_

_But it was bittersweet. As soon as the Great Fairies and their kin arrived, the Great Fairies passed. Our power source is literally them. They have trapped themselves within crystals, never to come out again, in order so that we may all live. They may not be truly dead, but they are not truly living either. _

_I must make sure their sacrifices do not go in vain._

_-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-  
_

_It's been so long since we started _The Pride of the Goddesses_. I am old now… and I knew I would never see its completion. Still, I wish I could. Alas, I must leave it up to my children and their children's children and the many generations to come. No doubt the ship will be glorious when that day comes. Any deluge the goddesses may send will pale in comparison to the fruits of our labor, our means of survival._

_But I wonder… When land comes again, will we continue to sail the seas in _The Pride_, or will we go back to land? In fact, who's to say the goddesses are wiping out the whole world? Perhaps just Hyrule. Again, questions I will not live to see the answer to. But fun to think about._

_Nonetheless, I leave these words to my descendants:_

_Live. Do what you must to survive, but never forget to _live_. Chase your dreams, no matter what they may be or no matter what others may say. Don't be afraid to come up with crazy ideas, because more often than not, those crazy ideas will get you somewhere. _

_Just make sure it doesn't land you in the gaol!_

_Ah yes… this will be my last entry. I know it. And I'm glad I did it with a hearty laugh!_

_May your futures be bright, wherever _The Pride_ may take you!_

* * *

"Itaav? Itaav, where are you?"

A small boy writhed in his cramped bunk. When he heard his name called again, he sat up and bumped his head on the top bunk. Itaav Sallas cussed as he rubbed his head through his purple hair. He hated this bunk. He hated this room. Heck, he just hated being below deck. It was always so tight and cramped. And this part of the ship barracks was no exception. In the orphan quarters it was two bunks per each little room. But then again, he supposed it was better than having live parents. Then you slept in an even tighter spot cramped in between them.

The people in the Inner Wall didn't sleep like this.

"Itaav!"

"I'm going!" He shouted back, immediately waking up his neighbor in the top bunk. He didn't really care. He quickly put on his boots and a jacket before stomping out the door. Below deck, he had no idea what time it was, but he had an idea it was probably obscenely early in the morning.

He went down the hall, ignoring opening doors and people scolding the little kid for waking them up. He turned a corner, to see where the source of the voice was. It was the foreman, and he had his hand on the shoulder of a little blond boy. The kid was his own age, maybe a year or two younger, and he was definitely a recent addition to the orphan barracks. He had that sad look about him with his eyes plastered to the floor.

"There you are Itaav." Said the foreman satisfactorily.

The pale boy just grumbled something rude in response. He was just staring at the new addition. He had no idea why… but he didn't like him. Nope. Not at all.

"Itaav," the foreman went on, "This is Link Dollet. He just lost his parents in the hurricane last week. They got caught in a weak barrier and now… Well, I figured since you're the closest in age to him, you two might make good friends. I was hoping you might be able to show him the ropes, that this place ain't so bad."

It all went in one ear and out the other. Itaav did not like this kid, this Link. The kid hadn't spoken one word but Itaav got sick to his stomach looking at this… _Pathetic worm._ His mind paused for a moment, wondering where _that_ came from. He'd certainly never called anyone a worm before. Pathetic, yes, worm, no. Weird.

"So is that all right with you, Itaav?" The foreman asked, seemingly not for the first time.

The older boy looked up at the foreman, then back at Link. The blond boy seemed to have gotten a little courage and taken a peek at him. Blue eyes briefly made contact with his own red, and Itaav felt that indescribable sense of loathing return.

So he kicked Link in the shin and hauled ass out of there before the foreman could catch him, giggling uncontrollably at the sound of the man's shouting and Link's crying.

* * *

Alright, first off I want to say the name Buckfee came to me in a dream. I dreamt I had managed to hatch a Night Fury, and he called himself Buckfee. I thought it was a lousy dragon name... but I like it as an ordirnary name. it's fun to say... Buckfee. Sallas came from my random need to generate a last name. I thought Salazar, then Salad Bar, then i went "wtf why the animaniacs reference?" and then just went to Sallas. Itaav, who I will not hide is this story's Vaati reincarnation (will get into that later, but the theory behind it courtesy of **fleets**), is a descendant of Buckfee. But we'll talk about that in later chapters.

And if it's not entirely clear, this is like an alternate universe of Wind Waker. Remember how at the beginning of WW we have the opening sequence with the legend of the Hero of Time. Basically the same thing here. Except the goddesses decided not be bitches and gave _everyone _a chance for survival rather than a chosen few when they flooded the place. The result was _The Pride of the Goddesses_, a truly massive five part ship that replaces Hyrule.

I will try to update this every other week. I will go to weekly updates when FL is finished. But I do hope that you'll like reading it as much as I like writing it~


	2. Just Another Day on The Pride

Instead of working on Forgotten Legends, I decided to work on this. OH WELL. Also, for any newer readers of mine, I'd like to let you know that spelling mistakes and sometimes whole words are screwed up or missing because i don't often recheck the chapters when i finish them. I apologize for that now and in advance for future chapters.

**Midna Hytwilian**, again do I say unto thee... Insomniacs ftw! 8D

**Princess Mara**, thanks! I only hope it can be awesome and not just an awesome concept. D: And yes, the VaatiZelda is terribly hard to find. It's actually my favorite pairing out there, but it's terribly underrated so you don't see much of it. Not everybody seems to see the interesting dynamics the pairing has... Ah well.

More to say at the bottom (as usual).

* * *

The horn blared throughout the residential area of the outer wall. Link groaned in his bed, sincerely wishing that there was another more subtle way to begin the work day. But there wasn't. So he sat up, ignoring the rest of the horn's blares for the more stubborn sleepers. He was glad that at the age 15 he was allowed his own teeny apartment. For the past two years he hadn't needed to worry about someone tripping over him to get their stuff for their own job, which was great. And Link's teeny apartment had just what he needed. A bed, a small desk for who knew what, a dresser, and a small closet. He used the closet mostly to hold his work supplies more than fancy clothing. He actually didn't have any fancy clothing.

Scalers weren't that high ranked…

Not like Engineers.

He yawned. He got up and put on a fresh tunic and pants for the day. Then he reached under his bed and pulled out his walking boots before going to the closet and picking up his pack and machete. As soon as he left his apartment and went down to his area's mess hall, straight to the Harvest Deck it was. He hated Harvest Deck duty, especially at this time of year, but he drew the lot for it. Oh well.

Letting out another weary yawn, he exited his apartment and joined the small line forming down the stairs. Some people were heading off to the washrooms. Link never bothered to go in the mornings because Scaling wasn't the type of job you bathed in the morning for. Occasionally on really sleepy days, though, he'd go just to splash some cold water on his face to wake up. But today wasn't one of those days.

The mess hall always seemed to be crowded, which was appropriate. Back in the orphan barracks he remembered hearing "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" more times than he cared to count. As normal he got in line with a tray, absently moving as the line went on. Then he got his tray and went to his normal table.

Just a normal day.

"Link! Link!"

Different. He looked up from his batch of eggs to see Itaav running towards him, papers in hand and goggles still firmly clamped over his eyes. From the grimy look on him, he seemed to have been working quite a bit.

"Itaav? What are you doing here? You're an Engineer, you work on the upper decks." Link asked as his friend slid to a halt and sat next to him.

"Pfft, so? I can do whatever I want; it's not like they can get rid of me. I'm a genius." Said Itaav proudly. Then he shoved the papers he was holding right into Link's face. "And this only proves that I'm more of genius than I thought I was!"

The blond waved the papers out of his face. "And what's making you a genius this time?" He asked, slightly amused. Itaav was very… energetic when it came to breakthroughs with anything. But when something had him this hyped up, it meant it had more to do with his flying machine than anything else. To Link's surprise, however, it wasn't the flying machine this time… but the reasoning behind it.

Itaav grin became very wide as he put the papers on the table before them, rearranging them this way and that until a map of the world lay before them. There was the Great Sea and then the Great Continent… Link recognized lines in red ink mark the route _The Pride of the Goddesses_ took to and fro both the Sea and Continent. Then in blue there were other lines, lines that Link didn't recognize. The purple haired Engineer pointed to the blue lines. "I managed to figure out the flight patterns for the Palace of Winds! If my calculations are correct – and they are – it should fly right over us this afternoon!"

Link just stared blankly at the chart and then at his friend. "How do you find the time to do all this?" He asked perplexedly.

"I dunno. It just came to me as I was working on the _Helmaroc_ and I just did it last night." Said Itaav with a shrug. But his big grin remained.

Working on the _Helmaroc_, though. It certainly explained why Itaav looked as if he worked triple shifts. That was Itaav had decided to name his in-the-works flying machine. When it was finished, he wanted to take off to find the Palace of the Winds. It was Itaav's life-long dream so long as Link could remember. He couldn't understand why… He could understand wanting to get off the ship, yes, but to the Palace of the Winds? Who knew what was up there. Monsters, a lost civilization or maybe… absolutely nothing. Whatever the case, Link didn't see the appeal. Seeing the eerie thing fly over _The Pride_ was more than enough for him. Because while the Palace may have fascinated Itaav, it just plain creeped the hell out of Link.

Then the Scaler paused in his thoughts. "Wait… Didn't you have a date with Maple last night?" The younger teen asked.

The engineer's smile dropped and went to one that simply said, "oh crap." Itaav sat down and flipped the goggles off of his eyes. "Link… If I'm found dead and castrated, hanging from a rope on the main-royal mast… Well, I think you'll know who did it…"

Link just rolled his eyes. He forgot about her. Again. For a guy who was a magnet for women he really couldn't stay in a relationship with one. He either forgot about arrangements he'd made with them or forgot their names, and it led to all sorts of trouble. His latest girlfriend was a young woman named Maple and Maple… well, was demanding to say the least. Much like Itaav, she was also a Magic Engineer with strong magical abilities. Unfortunately, given her already vain and headstrong nature, being stood up by Itaav couldn't mean anything good. She wasn't above threatening people with her talents, and just because she and Itaav had a thing going on didn't make him safe from her wrath. If anything, that made him more susceptible to it.

"I told you she was a bad idea." Link warned, taking a mouthful of eggs from his plate.

"She came onto _me_," said Itaav defensively.

"Yeah," said his friend with a mouthful of egg, "And your _dick_ made decisions for you."

"Hey, now that was uncalled for!" Said the engineer, slightly offended. "Besides… I haven't slept with her."

"Yeah, sure you haven't." Link said sarcastically.

"It's true. I would've admitted if I slept with her!"

Link finally laughed. "I'm just pulling your leg. I believe you. And seeing how you might die in a few hours, I think it's good you didn't sleep with her. Could you imagine what she would do you to you if you had and still stood her up like that?"

Itaav grimaced. "No, I didn't imagine it… but I certainly have a lovely mental picture now…"

It was Link's turn to grin. But then he noticed one of the clocks on the wall and panicked. "Oh shi- I'm late!"

Itaav looked from his friend to the clock and cringed. "Egh, sorry about that. My fault."

But Link wasn't paying attention. He didn't even bother to chew the rest of his breakfast. The Scaler just swallowed it down, picked up his stuff and headed out the door. He was late! So, so late! And everybody on the bridge to the Harvest Deck was going so damned slow! He ended up having to push and shove most of his way through the cramped bridge, if bridge was really what it should be called. It was more of a fancy outdoor hallway with big windows simply there to look out at the sea.

Ignoring the protests and scolding of those he passed, he managed to make it to the Harvest Deck just on time. Nearly out of breath, he pushed on forward until he made it to his station for the day.

A bright yellow fairy came to meet him as he slowed down to catch his breath. "Link! What kept you, you were nearly late! The boss would've killed you if you came _late_!" The fairy snapped irately.

"Sorry… Tatl," he said in between pants. He was now at a stop, hunched over with hands on his knees to keep from falling over. "Itaav… kept me."

He could just make out the little silhouette of the fairy girl crossing her arms. "That guy's a lot of trouble. I don't know why you hang out with him… Didn't you used to hate each other, anyway?"

"Well we don't hate each other now." Link said as he finally stood up straight and cracked his neck. "But we've got work to do, Tatl. Tell'em to get the station ready."

The fairy grumbled something and then flitted on ahead to the Scaler stations by the edge of the hull. Link took the time to get properly ready. If anything was amiss, he had to report it and get new supplies before he did his run. He made sure his machete was securely sheathed in the shoulder scabbard, his work gloves didn't have any holes, his harness vest and helmet were fitted right, and his big canvas apron hadn't dissolved in thickness. And his magnetic boots were in his pack. All right.

He went over to the station where Tatl waited for him. The station he had today was being run by Ralph. That was fine with Link. Ralph was an okay guy and took the Scaler job seriously.

"All right, all set here." Ralph said as he hitched the safety tethers on Link's harness vest and pulled, making sure none of hitches came loose. "Ready, Link?"

"Just let me get the magnets on." He said as he slipped off his normal boots and reached into his pack for his work boots. He didn't like to wear the work boots anywhere that wasn't the hull, as they could be tricky on… well, just about anywhere on the ship. It was a huge, floating hunk of metal after all. Boots tied tight around his feet, he put the goggles over his eyes and gave the thumb's up to Tatl and Ralph. "Down I go. And Ralph, if Nayru walks by while I'm still down there, please don't make muscles at her."

"Ah, shut up and get down there, ya goof." Ralph scowled.

Link just smirked before hopping over the edge of the ship. He let himself fall a few feet before inching his boots towards the hull. Like lightning the magnetized soles of the boots slammed on the metal of the hull. Since the ship was moving as it always was, the wind that wasn't being caught by sails was being caught by his face. Annoying blond strands that slipped form under his helmet whipped around his face, but his goggles were on, so he didn't need to worry about anything getting in his eyes. Just the itchiness that was bound to occur on his face.

Tatl flitted down to Link and he gave her another thumb's up. "All good here! Tell him to tighten the rope!" He shouted through the wind. The fairy bobbed up and down before heading back up. It was still beyond Link how fairies could stand to fly against such wind. They weren't as fragile as they looked, he supposed.

The rope tightened, and now Link didn't need to worry about his boots slipping and failing him as he took care of this area of the hull. He sighed as he caught sight of some roots trailing down from windows that were supposed to be closed and from the excess junk that people didn't realize stuck to the hull. He took out his machete and began to cut everything that shouldn't be on the hull off, while at the same time relaying orders to Tatl about whether or not Ralph should tighten or loosen the rope to allow him more liberty in certain areas of the hull.

Just another day scaling _The Pride of the Goddesses_.

* * *

Since Link had gone off to his job, Itaav figured he may as well get to his own job. As soon as he got back to his own apartment and cleaned up of course. He was working on sail designs today, and he had a feeling that his co-workers may not like the smell of sweat, salt, and the other various dirts and grimes that came with working on the _Helmaroc_ for long periods of time.

It was almost finished now, his beloved _Helmaroc_. It's just too bad it wasn't finished today. If it was, he'd be able to sore up to the Palace of Winds! It was a place that had always caught his attention. A humungous castle floating carelessly in the sky, with those rotors and propellers guiding it through its seemingly never ending course… What powered it? How long had it been afloat and why hadn't it stopped? Did anyone still live up there or was it abandoned or who knows what? Other people were content just to leave those questions be but not Itaav. He would get up there with his _Helmaroc_ when he was finished and figure it all out! Heck, if it was able to support extra weight, he might bring Link along with him! His friend tried to hide it but he knew Link was just as tired of this rust bucket _Pride_ as much as him.

_But I'm not getting off yet_… He thought to himself rather disappointedly. Itaav was still on _The Pride_, and he would be for a while yet. But at least his job wasn't terrible.

Sufficiently cleaned up and donning fresh clothes, he got on the walkways to the upper decks. Unlike the lower decks, they weren't particularly crowded. Enough to be annoying, but one could easily just walk around a person going too slow. The reason for the lack of massive crowding was mostly because Above-Deck Engineers were harder to find than the standard Engineer. There were still a good chunk of them, though, and those that didn't live up the expectations of an Above-Decker were often demoted to normal Engineer. But for people like Itaav, who were considered geniuses, were skilled in magic, and didn't do well in tight, enclosed spaces for very long, they were Above-Deck. And generally Above-Deckers were considered a higher class of worker than others – meaning bigger apartment sizes, higher pay (which he normally spent on the _Helmaroc_), more vacation time, and so on and so forth.

Even though it was his mission in life to get off the metal deathtrap called _The Pride_, Itaav liked being an Above-Deck Engineer, and not because of the perks. Well, maybe because of the perks but more because a lot of it was sail and hull design (not that much could be done to the hull when they were on the sea), both drawing and the construction of it, and dealing with the Fairy Crystals. A good chunk of it meant being outside, which Itaav liked. Because being outside was better than being on the cramped inside. This was another one of the reasons why Itaav wanted off _The Pride_. It was always so crowded and crammed full of people. Personal space was like a myth; there was limited freedom when wandering around, and you always had to work, work, work in this super cramped place. It drove him nuts.

… Well, more than usual, anyway.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, now that he'd come to today's workplace, he paused in front of the door. Just as quickly as he'd been reminded, he'd forgotten.

Maple could be behind that door. He could be working with her today.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, was the unfortunate saying that popped into Itaav head. Reluctantly, he opened the door and peeked inside.

Then he opened it completely and let out a sigh of relief. No Maple.

"Itaav, there you are! You're late!" Said the Head Above-Deck Engineer. He didn't look very happy.

And the teenager didn't let it bother him at all. "What's your point?"

His boss gritted his teeth. "You're not supposed to be late. If you were supposed to be late, it wouldn't be a bad thing that you _are_ late."

Itaav rolled his eyes and went to his empty sketch table in corner, all the while saying, "Yeah, what are you going to do? Throw me overboard? You guys can't do anything without me around."

His superior's face turned four different shades of red before settling on a lovely shade of ketchup red. "I am your supervisor! You don't talk to me like that just because… just because you're Buckfee Sallas's descendant!"

"I'm not talking to you like this because I've got a 'proud lineage.' I'm talking to you like this because what I said is true. Don't try and deny that everybody says you haven't had this much genius on the ship since it was made." Said Itaav nonchalantly. As he said it, he had a ruler in hand and was already sketching a sail design as easily if he wasn't having a conversation at all.

His two co-workers in the cramped room looked from their boss to their younger colleague. They had both betted on who would win this argument; a past time of theirs. But in order to keep up appearances so their pay wouldn't get docked, they made sure they looked fearful.

If possible, the HA-DE's face went redder. "Arrogant little-"

Before he could finish that sentence, Itaav put the finishing touches on the blueprint he'd made and held it up. "How's this look?"

Giving him a deathly glare, his boss reluctantly looked from the teen to the blueprint. As quickly as his face had turned an impossible shade of red, it turned a dainty shade of pink.

It was a brand new sail design for the emergency sails. Complete with some of the basic places they could go and an almost completely automated set up. And Itaav had done it in less than five minutes. As if he had saved it for a moment like this.

Which he had. On particularly snarky days, Itaav always had an ingenious design up his sleeve so his pay wouldn't get docked. He had several other designs locked in his cranium just waiting to see the light of day just like this one. On a normal day when he didn't sass anyone, he just improved on current designs rather than introduce brand new ones like these. Keep the trump cards to himself until he really needed them, was his own opinion.

"Well?" Itaav asked. "What do you think?"

His superior just looked away from him and grumbled something under his breath before angrily heading out the door. When that door was slammed shut, Itaav's co-workers passed the money around, the winner giving his younger colleague a thumb's up.

The purple haired teen just smirked and put his blueprint aside to begin work on another. Trump card of the day, he went about what he normally did for the next few hours, occasionally stepping outside just to stretch his legs or get some water. As it neared noon, he thought of taking his lunch break. The thought quickly left his mind when he heard,

"Where is he? Where is that _bastard_, Itaav Sallas!"

"I think someone's looking for you?" Commented his frightened co-worker.

Desperately, he looked around for some place to hide. He hated _The Pride_ now more than ever for its cramped spaces and lack of hiding places. With no place else to go, he crawled under the space in his drawing desk. "I'm not here!" He hissed to his colleagues.

The door burst open.

"Where is he? I know he's in here!" Shouted a very upset Maple.

"Itaav?" He heard one of his co-workers say. "Haven't seen him all day. Have you checked-"

Maple wasn't listening apparently. She just went around to his desk and pulled out Itaav by his belt. He yelped helplessly and he tried to crawl back under the desk, but Maple had a surprising amount of upper body strength for a girl. Resistance was futile. She dragged him up and outside of the room, only to continue dragging him out until they were in one of the rare shaded and secluded places of the upper decks. Well, at least she wasn't say anything horrible about him in public.

"Where were you last night?" She asked harshly.

"Listen, I'm sorry, I forgot-"

"Yes, I know you _forgot_! I'm asking where you were!"

He bit his lip, wishing he could run away. He could always try, but Itaav knew that Maple would be able to catch him easily. She was very good at paralysis hexes, and he could see her very liberally using one on him. "I got caught up in something…"

"Caught up in what, exactly? What is more important than your girlfriend?" Maple snapped.

He twiddled his fingers and avoided looking at her. _You don't want me to answer that._ "About that, listen… this whole thing's kind of one-sided and-"

"_What?_"

"Don't get me wrong!" He added quickly, "I mean, I do like you but… It's just… There are other things on my mind, so…" He was pretty sure saying something along the lines of 'I'm not looking for anything serious' or 'My airship is first on my priorities list' were very bad answers. Luckily, he didn't have to choose one because Maple figured it out.

"Are you… breaking up… with _me_?" She asked incredulously.

Edging out towards the nearest escape route, Itaav said anxiously, "It depends… Will you kill me if I say yes?"

The girl's hands balled into fists but she did nothing. Instead she just growled out, "And to think I considered sleeping with you," before marching away.

Itaav let out a sigh of relief, glad he wasn't the one running away. But her last words registered in his brains. _Damn. Too late to say I take it back, I guess…_

But before he could ponder that any further, the ship's alarm rang out in its irritatingly high pitched warble. Wait… the alarm?

Itaav looked out to the sea and cussed, seeing the reason for the alarm.

He was already running to the nearest Fairy Crystal when above the alarm a voice said, "This is the Crow's Nest reporting: This is not a drill. The _Sea Naga_ has been spotted off the starboard bow. All Engineers and magically inclined peoples are to report to the nearest Fairy Crystal. I repeat, this is not a drill."

* * *

First things first, and this is pretty important if you're interested in the details, because the story probably won't mention it in the near future. The Great Sea and the Great Continent. At this point, I'm only making wild guesses here in inferring that the goddesses just flooded Hyrule and not the world. If Spirit Tracks is to be any guide, at least, then in the WW-verse, Tetra found a new land to start Hyrule in. I've dubbed that the Great Continent, because I imagine it's kind of like Earth's equivalent of the super continent Pangea. Meaning a good chunk of their world is still under the sea while they just have one massive landmass. Upon discovering this landmass, the Gorons left the ship for land. because Gorons are an earth based people, they couldn't last long on a ship, I think. With them, they emptied out the ship that served as the Goron Feeding grounds. They now use that part of the ship for constructing of sails and spare parts and so on. But by the time they found the great Continent, the Hylians, humans, a fae aboard the ship were too used living on it so they remained. They now go back and forth in between sea and continent, not having to worry as much about supplies now that they have a landmass to go back to obtain surplus supplies if needed.

Now to my own ramblings. Scalers have dangerous jobs, but I love how Link is just so used to doing it. Maybe one day I'll share the story of how he got into it. XD And this incarnation of Vaati isn't that much of a lady's man because he's too caught up in his airship. :B

We'll get to Zelda next chapter~


	3. Zelda's Escape!

And so we have most everyone else who wasn't introduced in the last two chapters introduced here. Most.

Chapter's kinda shortish. Sorry.

**Midna Hytwilian**, yes, I added them because I'm trying my best not to add any OCs to this fic. I mean, there are two that are gonna be guaranteed to show up eventually because I like to whore them out, but I'm trying to make them the only pair of mine that will appear (and in a cameo, not even a serious role). Also, I read the mangas like forever ago. So forever ago, I didn't even remember that Maple was in Seasons. XD Pfft, one day I'm going to have to beat that game too. D: ANYWAYS, so yeah, don't worry. Itaav will get over it. Maybe. I don't know. But you should totally try writing your story. Don't worry about failing. 8D

**Hazelholly**, heh, well I hope I can keep it entertaining. It's just the beginning after all. And yes, you figured out my "super clever" naming scheme for Itaav. XD That'll be brought up later, actually.

**Princess Mara**, yeah, don't get too used to quick updates. This'll probably be the last "quick" update until I get the schedule officially up and running. XD Anyways, again, I totally forgot about the manga. But I'm my subconscious remembered it when I was writing Maple. And yes, this is a very Zelda centric chapter~

* * *

Aboard the _Sea Naga_, the sole male and king of the ship gazed ahead at _The Pride of the Goddesses_ with a frown. Even though there was still quite a distance between his own ship and Hyrule's, he could hear their alarms wailing. Not that distance mattered much. The _Naga_ had a much simpler construction that mimicked the original Gerudo Fortress's inner workings._ The Pride_ was massive, but the _Naga_ was smaller and stream-lined; it was built for speed and not strength, mostly because the _Naga_ had much less to carry than _The Pride_ did in its beginnings. It would get to _The Pride_ within minutes, hopefully before their barriers were at full strength.

"Well, hun, they've spotted us." Said a Gerudo woman next to him, leaning against the rail. She was dressed as the Captain of the ship, one rank lower than the man. "Are we still going as planned?"

"It's _been_ going, Nabooru." Ganondorf told her, allowing a slight smile towards his wife before looking back at the other ship. "The other ship is already cloaked and by _The Pride_'s port bow."

Nabooru still kept her eyes focused on the ship before looking up at her husband almost disapprovingly. "Are you sure this'll actually work, though? Kidnapping seems a bit drastic."

"It does seem drastic," he agreed, "But we don't have much of a choice in the matter."

The woman shrugged before standing up straight and stretching. "True enough, but only because I can't think of anything better." She paused for a moment as a thought crawled into her mind. "What about that other one?"

"Other one? You mean the boy?" Asked Ganon. Upon receiving a nod from his wife he answered, "They don't know who he is. That's the only problem with Courage; it can pretty much go anywhere. So for now we can only go for the princess until we know who the keeper of Courage is."

With a pensive look on her expression, Nabooru put an advocating hand on Ganondorf's arm, "I don't like it, hun. We should take care of the kid too, not just the princess."

He looked at his wife with a stern face. "And what do you recommend we do? Take their ship apart looking for him? We don't have the time or forces to do that, Nabooru. All we can do now is hope Koume and Kotake can figure out who he is so we can get him later." He told her.

Nabooru's frown grew slightly as she looked back to _The Pride_, now much closer as the _Naga _began to sidle up to it. He could see where her concern was coming from. The witches were old, even by their own standards, and their magic simply wasn't up to snuff anymore. It could take them a very long time to locate Courage; time they didn't have. Finally, she gave a sigh of surrender and unsheathed her curved blade. The concern that had been on her face was now replaced with a fierce grin. "Just the princess it is, then. Get ready to board, hun. And I hope you're not planning to wear that ridiculous hat on the raid."

"I'm always ready, and you know you love this hat." Ganondorf replied, mimicking her grin and tipping the brim of his wide, feather hat to her. He then looked at the rest of his crew. "Prepare to board!"

* * *

"Come this way, princess!" Chancellor Cole chimed over the alarms, waving his small, stubby hand over to the direction Zelda should have been going in the maze that was the Royal Palace – or rather the large mansion-like building that passed for one on _The Pride_. "Over to port now!"

The princess rolled her eyes, wishing terribly that this strange little man wasn't the one in charge of her security. She followed his direction and began the trek that had been drilled into her ever since she was little in case she needed to make a port exit. Cole scurried on ahead of her to lead the way, his two different sized hats bobbing awkwardly upon his almost too-large cranium.

She didn't like Cole.

But then again most people didn't, and it wasn't just for his strange appearance. He was a foul little man with a superiority complex who was only around because, for some reason, her father liked him.

"Hurry up!" Cole egged on from ahead.

"I'm sorry but maybe _you_ should be the one in the skirt and uncomfortable shoes!" Zelda hissed from behind.

"Rotten girl…" Cole grumbled as Zelda passed him.

Zelda resisted the urge to make a very unladylike gesture. Normally she would have gone through with it, but she felt that doing it may have been stooping down to Cole's level. Flaunting her status wasn't something she liked to do, but Cole was the big exception. So rather than respond negatively to his comment, she held herself proudly and smiled. Him calling her a 'rotten girl' was a complement. And now that she was in the lead, she intended to stay in it. Every time Cole attempted to overstep her, she'd quicken her pace. Given the man's short stature, it wasn't terribly hard to do. He was just irritatingly persistent.

She managed to stay ahead of him up until they were at the library doors. At that point, Cole seemed to put all his effort into staying in the lead. While it was bothersome, a shock that went through the ship and nearly had her fall on her face reminded her of the situation. She scrambled close behind Cole, who was weaving his way through the bookshelves expertly. He stopped at one shelf against the wall and said in his normal bitter voice, "Well, princess? Help me out here!"

"Oh yes, so-" Zelda held back the sorry, as that was the last thing she wanted to say to the likes of him. She just hurried herself next to Cole at the side of the bookshelf and pushed. Combining both their meager upper body strengths, the shelf moved slowly aside.

"This way!" Shouted an unfamiliar voice.

Both Cole and Zelda paused, listening to unfamiliar footfalls echo through the library.

"B-but… they shouldn't have gotten here so quickly!" Cole said under his breath in a panic.

"What? Those are the Gerudo?" Whispered Zelda, doing her best to remain calm. Because Cole was right. If the Gerudo had been coming off the starboard side they shouldn't have been be anywhere near port or even past the outer wall!

"No time, princess," he said, shoving her through the small gap behind the bookshelf and into the secret passage. "No time! Just hurry and get to the end of the passage!"

"There she is!"

Zelda looked up from Cole to see three armed Gerudo women coming their way. Cole was still forcing her back. "Wait, but what about you?"

"Never mind that, you wretched girl! Just run!" He snarled as he gave her one final push back.

The princess hadn't expected the surprising amount of strength in the man's shove and was sent a foot backwards. By the time she'd registered what had happened, the book shelf slammed back into place. She threw herself at the wall, hoping that maybe it was just an illusion and she could still get Cole and pull him to safety. But it wasn't. As her hands slapped against the back of the bookshelf, she could feel Cole's tingling magical presence.

In the instance of a second, too many thoughts raced through her head. She could push it open with her own magic, attempt to rescue hi. Heck, he may be dying for her right now… the two didn't even like each other and he was out there, making sure she was safe! But before she could do anything stupid, she felt a vibration run through the ship again. Logic overcame her. If Cole had just done his job by sacrificing himself for her, so be it. She had to do what he said and run.

So she did. She had to throw off her unbearable shoes to do so, but that was a decision she could live with. Zelda whipped up some witchlight to follow her as she ran into the deeper recesses of the ship, but she felt a stomach ache coming on. She found herself confused and frightened, not knowing what was going on at all.

What were the Gerudo doing within the inner wall? How did they get there without anyone noticing? They'd never even _tried_ to get that far onto _The Pride_ before… And even more than that, why did it seem like they were looking for her?

_Because they were…_ She thought sickeningly. _But why?_

Zelda paused to wipe the sweat off of her brow, her little ball of witchlight swaying around her carelessly. The ship got much too warm for her tastes the deeper she went in… Come to think of it, had she ever been to the very end of this passage? No, she hadn't been this far down there. She'd probably never even been through half of it because someone always managed to fetch her before she reached that point. But no one had come for her yet…

Where did this passage lead?

Two more vibrations shook the ship slightly.

No time to think. She had to keep going.

Running was all she seemed to be doing now, and every time she thought the path would end, it would keep going. She still felt sick and unhappy, but she kept going. She tried not to think about what was going on outside. She hadn't felt any vibrations through the ship. How long had she been down there? Was the raid over?

… Had the Gerudo gotten through? Were they close by, far away?

Her pace quickened, but it was so sudden she slipped. Since Zelda's feet were sweaty and the passage way was at a downwards incline, she stumbled and crashed down. She gritted her teeth as she pushed herself up. Frustrated, she sat up straight, gesturing for her little ball of light to get closer down before tearing her skirt to a shorter length. That way if she tripped again, the skirt wouldn't jumble up her feet and she had a chance of catching herself.

_Maybe I should walk back?_ She thought. She hadn't heard anything that sounded like footsteps. If someone had followed her, surely she would've heard the echoes, right? _No, keep moving forward. No looking back._

Standing up, Zelda continued on at a walk, gripping the torn bits of her skirt tightly.

After what seemed like hours more of walking, she noticed that the passage had gotten brighter. At first she thought it was her imagination, so she dispelled her witchlight, just to make sure. It wasn't. Feeling a smile make its way onto her face, Zelda began to run again. Had she finally reached the end? She practically threw herself into the room, only to find that if this was the end of the tunnel… it was a bit of let down.

It was just a mid sized, circular room with a Fairy Crystal in it. There were no other passages or doorways. Just a Fairy Crystal.

She frowned. That couldn't be all, could it? Walking around, she looked for traces of secret doors or gossip stones. And the princess kept looking until she was back at the passage entrance. Nothing. She was about to curse Buckfee Sallas for creating such a backwards safe room when she noticed something that looked like a handle above the passage entrance.

No. Not a passage entrance. A doorway! That was the door.

She contained a squeal of joy and reached for the handle. She didn't reach. On her tip toes, she tried again only to find that she still couldn't reach. Finding that she was getting nowhere remarkably fast, she tried jumping. Her fingers managed to brush the handle, which brought a hopeful smile to her. But jumping a second and third time yielded no results, and she found herself cursing her height. Hylians were traditionally tall, but she had to be unique and be _short_. Short enough so that the safe room wasn't safe for her!

Zelda shrieked in frustration, only to hear a "Did you hear that?"

"Crap…" she mumbled to herself. Again, she tried jumping and down, reaching desperately for that handle.

"There! I see her!"

And she could see them. The three Gerudo from before… so did this mean Cole was…?

She squealed and ran to the Fairy Crystal. She wasn't entirely sure what good that would do, but she didn't have anywhere else to go. Her magic! She could use her magic! The Fairy Crystal could help power a spell or something!

"Princess, come with us."

She turned on the ball of her foot to see all three Gerudo in the room with her now. The leader of this particular squad had her hand held out to her. "We mean you no harm. Just come with us."

Zelda put on a fierce face. One hand on the Fairy Crystal, she felt the energy within it. The very life force of a Great Fairy… she could do this; she could make it out of here. "No." And as she said it, she threw the torn bit of her skirt still in her hand out to them. It accomplished its goal in throwing the Gerudo off of her for just a split second, and she wasted no time seizing that moment. Feeling her own power and the Fairy Crystal's power swell up within her, she cried, "Farore's Wind!"

The next thing she knew, she was in the air, falling down. She screamed, reaching out in front of her, trying to find the word's again. But they weren't coming out. Her body began to twist in the air; she was looking down. Her lungs burst out with a new set of screams. The good news was that she was above _The Pride of the Goddesses_'s Harvest Deck. The bad news was that she was much higher up than she had originally thought! There was no way she could come out of this fall without being gravely injured.

Flailing in the air, her breath finally escaped her. She attempted to brace for a very painful impact and closed her eyes tightly.

She crashed. There was pain surging throughout her body, but she landed on something… well, not soft, but not the deck it seemed. She groaned and opened her eyes. Her lids were weighing down. She saw nothing but blue skies as darkness overcame her.

So she had completely missed that the reason she hadn't hit the deck was because Link Dollet had done it for her.

Just a minute before she landed, Link had noticed he heard screaming. With the raids having finished a bit ago, everyone was confused. Until he looked up and saw a girl falling from the sky. In the process of going out to catch her, he made a miscalculation on where the girl would fall and ended up being her personal Hylian mattress.

"Good goddesses!" Cried Ralph as he went over to where the girl had fallen on Link.

Tatl added in her own colorful expression in the Fae language before checking on Link. "Link! Link are… well, you're not all right, but… are you alive?"

Link, who was just barely awake, merely responded with a sound that seemed to be in between a groan, whimper, and sob.

"The girl looks just bruised…" Ralph mumbled under his breath. But he wasn't a doctor, he didn't know whether she was okay or not, and Link was most definitely _not_ okay. His expression turned nasty when he noticed that everyone else aside from Tatl was gawking like an idiot. "Are you all _blind_? Someone get a healer!"

* * *

Blargh, so this'll probably be the last of the daily updates for this one. Got a chapter of another story that needs writing. But you can expect once a week updates. What day? I dunno, but you can count on an update once a week from wither Sunday to Saturday.

And in case you're all wondering (which you're probably not but whatev), Ganny's wearing a hat the likes of which I can only compare to Captain Barbosa's (You know, that guy played by Geoffry Rush in PotC). And if you don't know who I'm talking about, you live under a rock. D:

Soooo sleepy. -w- Imma head off to bed now. Good night for now and see you around next time...


	4. After the Raid

Blargh. Sorry for taking a bit. I've been having some issues with my internet provider and... well, simply put I've had to update from my laptop, in which my word processor is expired. Yeah, irritating. So... Anyways, lappy's gonna be updated soon, but that's not the point. New chapter. Over half was checked over, but it still might have a kink or two. I'm working on actually checking my chapters. 8D

Anyways, I got more reviews than usual for last chapter. So I'm going to do my responses below today since I'm sure a lot of you just want to get to the story. A bit shortish, but I felt I should cut it short else it would be kind of overwhelming.

* * *

Itaav hated raids. Most people did, actually. But Engineers, whether they be Above-Deck or Below-Deck, had extra reason to hate raids with a passion: it was _exhausting_. The process of putting barriers big enough to surround just the individual decks of _The Pride_ took an enormous amount of energy and magic to do so, which was why Engineers, and anyone magically inclined, had to be near a Fairy Crystal in order to make the barriers. It was just too much for normal people, Hylian or human, to handle. The Fairy Crystals allowed a boost in their own magic as well as adding Great Fairy magic to the barrier spell. And maintaining all that magic was a team effort that took from _everyone_.

When the signal went for the Engineers to drop the barriers, it was a godsend. While Itaav couldn't speak for the other Crystal Stations around the ship, everyone around Fairy Crystal Mab was going home - with or without permission.

But while everyone else was heading off to their individual homes and places of residence on the ship, Itaav remained behind by the Fairy Crystal. He was just as exhausted as everyone else, but he had to stick around. Just until…

The wind picked up. He felt himself brighten up considerably as he ran to the rail and his eyes scoured the skies. He could hear the shrill whistle from the even higher decks, warning of storm-like winds; he could hear the royal yards snapping downwards, rendering the sails useless and slowing down _The Pride_ considerably. He could see it! It was a steadily growing dot that had been hiding behind the lowering royal yards!

The Palace of the Winds, flying hundreds of feet above the ship in the course he had predicted. A goofy grin came upon his face as he saw it in all its glory, nearing _The Pride_, soon to pass over it and continue on its merry way. As it neared, gusts of wind grew stronger, and Itaav's mind began to wander to the future. He designed the _Helmaroc_ especially for the gusts. A glider that would circle the Palace on the wind gradually until it was close enough to glide to the Palace rather than around it continuously. Not to say that it was solely a glider. He was working on making it a full-fledged flyer – which was taking a good chunk of magical research and tinkering with the basic design of his ship.

As the massive flying castle passed over the ship, Itaav sighed dreamily. Other people were content to just ignore it and went about their lives as usual, but all his attention was on that amazing palace that defied gravity. The propellers and rotors keeping it aloft, flying through the sky without a care in the world… If only the _Helmaroc_ had been finished, he might have been able to go right then and there. But he supposed in the end, it didn't matter. Because the chart he'd made to track the Palace's movements were correct. He could track it from anywhere.

It seemed that just as quickly as the Palace had made its appearance, it was headed off into the distance again. It always seemed to come and go too quickly. Itaav closed his eyes and took the time to treasure the wind coming off from it. He loved the wind, but the wind from the Palace was always something special. It felt like…

_It feels like home._ He thought to himself, satisfied to have found such a right word for it.

The wind had left. The whistling for the royal yards to come up again was heard from above. The ship made a half-hearted lurch at resuming its former speed. With a sigh, Itaav opened his eyes, looking on as the Palace receded further and further away from view. It would be a black dot on the horizon for the next few hours, maybe even until the next day. But after that, it would be out of view. And for some reason, that made the young Engineer sad.

Then a conversation from some fairies caught his attention.

"… heard that she landed right on top of a Scaler."

"Really? Are they alright?"

"They say the girl is, but that Scaler, some kid called Link, is hurt pretty bad."

"What?" Itaav blurted out. Scalers named Link weren't exactly common. He shot towards the fairies, a blue one and a dark purple one. "A Scaler named Link?"

The fairies looked at each other anxiously for a moment before the blue one bobbed up and down. "Yes. He's at the Med Bay in the outer wall now."

* * *

Zelda woke up with a groan to an immense headache, but didn't open her eyes. Were you supposed to feel pain when you were dead? Or rough mattresses and scratchy blankets? That must've meant she wasn't dead then. That and she could hear all sorts of hustling and bustling around her; hustle and bustle you didn't hear in the inner wall. So she had somehow survived that horrible fall?

She finally opened her eyes and pushed herself up. At first she had thought she was alone, but one of the walls around her moved. Curtains. It certainly explained how she could still hear everything clearly and have privacy. But where was she? What had happened actually? She remembered falling, but before that…

She held a hand against her head, racking her brains to remember. It wasn't helping her headache any, but she was remembering. There had been a Gerudo raid and she and Cole were heading to the passage at the library. And then Cole had…

Biting her lip, Zelda found herself concerned over the fate of that horrible little man. But was he really so horrible if he was willing to sacrifice himself to protect her?

She buried her face in her hands, all her stress and frustration from before returning. The raid may have been over, but inside her mind it was still going on. Because the Gerudo had been after _her_. Which meant they would keep coming back.

She withheld a gasp at the thought that they may still be on the ship.

One of the curtains opened up before she could dwell on that thought further.

"Zelda!" The voice belonged to a young man a few years older than her. When one took a close look, the two might have even looked similar. The only main difference was that now, this young man looked positively distraught. He quickly took her hands and began looking her over. "Are you alright? They said you were fine, but I don't know! These outer wall medics, I don't trust them! Are you feeling light headed? Nauseous? Goddesses, what happened to your skirt?"

"I'm fine, Zev! Really I am." Zelda said, tearing her hands away from her brother's grasp.

Her older brother's concerned eyes bored into hers, trying to see if she was telling the truth or not. She wasn't, because she still had that horrible headache, but he wouldn't be able to tell. Not only was Zev a terrible liar, he couldn't tell when someone was lying to him. That and it never seemed to occur to him that she was seventeen and not seven, so he had the unfortunate attribute of believing every single word that came out of his darling little sister's mouth.

This time was no different. Merely sighing in defeat, he nodded his head. "Sorry, Zel…" He slumped down on the chair by her bedside. "It's just… so much happened today in such a short amount of time…"

A red flag went up in Zelda's mind. "Zev… what… what happened?"

Her brother looked at her with pursed lips – something he always did when he didn't want to tell her something. Suddenly sitting up straight, he abruptly changed the subject. "How did you end up falling from the sky?"

She frowned, but the faster she answered him the faster she could get her own answers. "After Cole threw me into the library passage I made it to the Fairy Crystal chamber," she avoided interrupting herself to ask why on the Great Sea such a Crystal was even in that place, "I couldn't reach the door and the Gerudo were coming for me. So I went to the Crystal and used the teleportation spell that Impa taught us. But I wasn't thinking clearly and ended up warping too high."

Zev gaped. "You… you can use that spell?"

Puzzled, she asked, "You can't?"

"Zelda, even _father_ can't use that spell! That's amazing!" He exclaimed.

"No, what's amazing is how I survived the fall!" Zelda added, remembering that fall should have very well killed her. "What happened? Why am I alive? Not that I'm not glad to be alive but… I should be _dead_, Zev!"

"You didn't know? A boy came and caught you at the last minute. Well, caught might be a bit of a stretch but-"

"I _crashed_ into someone?" She was just getting borderline hysterical now.

Zev stood and waved his hands around, clueless as to what to do to calm his sister down. "Oh no, he's fine! I mean, he will be! They're fixing him right now! Fairies are helping and everything, he'll be just fine!"

She shoved herself off the bed and shuffled right past her brother, who was borderline hysterical himself trying to get his little sister from doing anything drastic. The differences between the inner and outer walls really hit her as she passed the curtains. For a medical bay it was cramped and looked very unsanitary. Many different kinds of people all on cots or rickety beds, like the one she had just been in, with many differing complaints. It was like a rainbow of differing ailments from general nausea to recovering amputees. Looking a little higher she could even see tiny hanging platforms with small glowing lights. Even fairies got sick too, it seemed.

"Zelda!" Zev took her by the shoulder and spun her around so they were face to face. Or rather face to shoulder, what with Zev being so much taller than her. "If you really want to thank him you can do so with a simple letter or something! Interacting with these… people… it's not right for people like us."

The princess frowned. She hated her brother's superiority complex; something he had inherited from their mother. But she was so used to it, she didn't say anything. After all, right now he was just worried someone would do something terrible to her. She smacked his hand away. "He saved my life and probably very nearly died doing it. Anything less than a personal 'thank you' is just plain rude."

She turned on the ball of her foot to see a great many people now staring at them. Zelda suddenly became very self-conscious, because it was only then she had noticed she was still barefoot and dirty with a significantly shortened and torn dress. She was probably showing a lot more leg than what was considered proper in _any_ circle. Despite the slight embarrassment, she held herself proudly. If she pretended that all was well and nothing was wrong in the slightest, no one would pay attention to her shabby appearance.

"Ah, princess! I'm, I mean, ah – I hope our accommodations were to your liking!" A nearby doctor chimed nervously. He was not at all like the doctors she had seen in the inner wall. Doctors were usually the picture of health there, which gave off a good impression to the inner wall patients. But here on the outer wall… well, he didn't look healthy. He was awfully skinny and looked old, but the latter may have been not necessarily from age but just from the many things he had _seen_ in his medical bay in the outer wall.

Hiding her surprise, she said, "Oh they're just fine, sir. It's just that I had heard there was a young man who saved me, and I'd very much like to thank him. Especially since I crash-landed right into him."

The doctor looked mildly surprised, but whether it was from her genuinely apologetic tone or her brother behind her, gesturing wildly for the doctor not to do a thing, she didn't know. But it seemed to be the former, as the doctor ignored the prince behind her. "Of course, princess, but… he's still in rather critical condition. I'm not sure you'd like to se-"

"I'm a big girl, I can handle it." Zelda said proudly.

"No you can't!" Zev cried out, again trying to pull his little sister away.

But the princess just snapped her arm away and smiled at the doctor pleasantly. "Please ignore him."

The doctor had a very worried look about him, though. As if he wasn't sure which of the royals to listen to. He didn't have to do much thinking, however.

Zev took the reigns, not wanting anymore of Zelda's defiance. He was the older brother, dammit, he knew what was best! "Impa! Take Zelda back home immediately!"

The princess couldn't do or say anything to stop the Sheikah woman from snatching her up and warping to the Royal Estate. And Sheikah warping wasn't at all like the "Farore's Wind" spell she had used before. Impa's method of warping was, as she understood it, a lot more of a fast and loose variety; and no matter how many times Zev had ordered Impa to warp Zelda away (which was more often than she would've cared to admit), the Sheikah warp always left the girl feeling disorientated and uncomfortable. Apparently, having a headache only made those sensations worse.

Zelda staggered a bit upon arrival and Impa took her arm in an attempt to help her balance.

"Princess, are you well?" She asked worriedly.

"Not really…" the princess mumbled as she massaged her forehead with her free arm. She was still swaying a bit, but Impa kept a firm hold on her. "That always feels weird…"

But it only took a few moments for her to find herself again. And when she did, she was very upset. He yanked herself away from Impa and stomped back and forth angrily. Zev had done it again! Just because _he_ was the heir and had a Sheikah entourage around him at all times, he was able to use the Sheikah as he pleased! And to use them for a stupid reason like preventing his sister from interacting with a commoner! He was infuriating! That boy had saved her-

Zelda remembered the raid again. She whipped around on the ball of her foot to face Impa. "Impa, what did Zev mean when he said, 'so much had happened in so little time'?"

Impa was a Sheikah woman through and through. She was tall with an athletic build, pale hair and red eyed. She almost always had a harsh expression on her. But at that moment, she appeared to be just a tired, middle-aged woman. With a sigh, she said, "The raid had more than just injuries this time, princess. There was a casualty."

The princess flinched. A casualty? Did that mean…

"Cole died, Your Highness, and we have no idea where the ones responsible are."

* * *

The _Sea Naga_, lithe, thin, and magnificent, was anchored by a small island. The hull, magically shaded a sandy bronze color, looked golden in the twilight. And as Ganondorf saw his ship on the horizon, he wondered how that hulking mass of metal _The Pride_ could really live up to its name. The _Naga_ may have been smaller, but it was a vision of beauty as well as a speedy battleship. _The Pride_ would never surpass that.

Unfortunately, _The Pride_ was his main focus at the moment. It was the reason why his _Naga_ had anchored by the island. That island was the rendezvous point for the main ship and the smaller schooner he sent to Hryule's ship. The crew of the main ship had been waiting for a while, which was only natural. The schooner wasn't as big nor was it built along the lines of the main ship. The speed difference between the main and its attachment was to be expected. It didn't keep it from being less nerve-wracking.

"I'm sure everything worked out, hun." Nabooru said as she joined her husband at looking out towards the sea for the schooner. "I chose those girls, myself. I don't expect anything less than success."

"I wouldn't expect anything less, either, but we don't know if one of _his_ agents is on board."

His wife's face grew serious. "If one of his agents is on board, we're already losing."

The schooner never came.

* * *

Alright, so first thing's first. You'll notice I introduced a kinda, sorta, not really OC. Why do I say that? Because Hyrule did have a prince that we know of at least _once_ in its history. And that was in the back story for Zelda II. For those that don't know, in a blaring continuity issue, it's that particular prince's fault that all Zelda's are named... well, Zelda. After the king died, the prince wanted to find out information about the Triforce. the information was divulged to Zelda before the king's death, so the prince was a jerk and interrogated her with the help of his magician friend. Zelda refused to tell. Unfortunately, the prince's magician friend had a bit of a temper issue and cursed Zelda to go into an everlasting sleep. The prince tried to stop him, but to no avail. The magician ended up dying from the spell, and the prince was so distraught he said all females of the royal line were to be named "Zelda" in remembrance of the tragedy. That's also the whole story for Zelda II. The prince here is a bit of a half OC, because he is based off of the prince from Zelda II, but we don't really know much of that prince beyond what was told in that background story. Being the dork that I am, I wanted to give him a name that started with Z. I was originally going to go with "Zan," but that sounded too close to Zant, and I was afraid people would get the two confused. So Zev is it was.

**Midna Hytwilian**, that pairing actually does interest me... But then again, I'm willing to pair Vaati with any attractive female because he is a horrible womanizer in my mind.

**Princess Mara**, yup, but let's keep that a secret. Believe it or not, people are terribly fickle and may actually completely stop reading if they find that out so soon. Also, you may want to be careful with my DA page. I tend to run my mouth there, so there might be some spoilers. D: If you're okay with spoilers, though, it isn't much of an issue. XD

**Ephriokko**, yeah, normally when I say 'I'm aware there are mistakes' it means I don't want people telling me. Not to say I don't appreciate people wanting to help but I tend to get... tempermental. D: And no, lil Link did not deserve to be kicked in the shins. D: But don't worry, lil Link got his revenge... which I'll get into later. XD

**fleets,** OHOHO, I know I totally had that reaction when I was thinking up the concept of this story. 8D As for your concrit, yeah, don;t worry about that. I will get into how they became best friends. I just wanted to save it for later when things get more... well, intense, I guess? As for Cole, all you need to know about him is: if you look up "annoying dick" in the dictionary, you will find a picture of Cole. You will also find a synonym for "really fun theme music" for him.

**SubZeroChimera**, I couldn't even begin to describe the sheer massiveness and complicated construction I thought of for that ship. If you've watched Avatar: The Last Airbender, it's a lot like Ba-Sing-Sei society wise. Lots of rules, lots of society, lots of jobs, and most of all: walls separating the rich from the poor. As for Scalers, basically, the ship gets shit stuck on the hull. They go down and cut off the stuck shit, from tree roots to garbage. A part which I didn't explain very well because it didn't really pertain to Link was the fairies roles in the job. Fairies are there to send messages back and forth from the Scaler on duty and the Scaler up top. Not everybody has magnet boots like Link, and even if they do they still run the risk of strong gusts of wind knocking them off the hull. They need to be tied appropriately and the fairy serves as a messenger for tightness of ropes and emergency beacon. Fairies also take mental notes of damaged areas of the hull and map those out, so emergency repairs can be handled by scalers, or if its not so bad, it can just get taken care of while on shore.


	5. The Pain of the Demon King

Short chapter is short, and for that, I apologize. Like, I mean it's really short. Less than 2000 words. Still terribly important, though. I'm having a block of sorts, caused mostly by procrastination and Ace Attorney games. And before anyone cries out "This is a late update, omg ur so terrible!" Let me say, I said I would update weekly. I never specified what day.

**Midna Hytwilian**, he is, isn't he? And no, they are looking for Zelda. Think you may have your stories mixed up. XD ANYWAYS, Spirit Tracks. Cole's a dick. A dick with a cool theme song and crazy expressions... So I like him. Sort of. He's tolerable. As for Byrne... I may be upset that his backstory's kind of a ripoff, but I like Byrne. A lot. Isn't it strange how wide my taste is? I crush on both Vaati and Byrne and they're like total opposites... Hmm. Whatever. It just means I like manly and girly men. XD

**SubZeroChimera**, heh, you'll see.

**fleets**, to a point, yes, Itaav is pretty different from his original self. But only because the way he was raised wasn't any different from anybody else on the ship. I'm bringing your story a little into it to use as an example: Gale, because he was raised albino and living with a guardian that wasn't about to win "parent of the year," as well as having various other things contributing to the atmosphere, it was pretty natural he grew to be... well... a dick, for lack of a better word. Not that it's a bad thing because Vaati is a dick. XD But Itaav, despite looking different, was raised much differently. Sure he may be an orphan with a different appearance, but he's also Buckfee Sallas's direct descendant, and seems to have inherited his genius (or so people think). As such, people treat him with quite a bit of respect. Of course, this also means he's still arrogant and has a very difficult time accepting defeat. And he's still temperamental with his share of foul thoughts. But I just think that this version of Vaati, Itaav, focuses more on his obsessiveness to attain his goals more than his villainous aspect. ANYWAYS, we'll gradually get into his darker nature as the story progresses, as I'm sure you already know. XD So yeah...

* * *

"Link, you look like crap." Itaav said cheerily as he saw his friend in the Med Bay.

The Scaler scowled but didn't move. At the moment, he was to remain immobile on his ruddy hospital bed. If he moved in the slightest, the medical fairies would throw fits. They already forced him down more than once – something which took Link completely off guard since he never expected such strength from such tiny creatures, especially _pink_ ones. At the moment, talking even seemed to make him ache, but the fairies were working hard and making him feel better by the second. "It goes to show, when it rains women, it's dangerous."

"Trust me, I know _that_." Itaav grimaced but pushed that to the back of mind quickly. "Was she pretty?"

Link shrugged, only to be smacked by one of the pink fairies before letting out a howl of pain.

At that sight, Itaav suppressed a laugh, but he was surprised at how hard he wanted to laugh. Yeah it was funny, but was it really _that_ funny? It was almost as if some part of him was enjoying the sight of Link in pain. Something flashed in his mind, almost like a pictograph or vague memory. Whatever it was, it was too fast for him to register, but the feeling it left behind remained. He didn't like it. Disturbing thought aside, he got back to the subject, if a little shakily. "So you didn't see her?"

"No, I was knocked out by the time I got here and she was gone by the time I woke up." The Scaler said almost regretfully, not even noticing that something had seemed to bother his friend. But he brightened up when he continued, "But get this: apparently, she was the _princess_."

The paler boy's jaw dropped. "Wha?"

"I saved a _princess_, man!" Link repeated.

After babbling nonsense for a few seconds, Itaav finally managed a, "B-but… what was she doing in the sky?"

With another shrug protested by the fairies, he said, "Beats me. But I caught her. I'm a _hero_ – or, I would be if anybody was going to find out." The last part was bitter.

Itaav frowned. "They're keeping it secret?"

"Yeah, the prince was here too. Seems like an asshole – more than _you_ anyways." Link added with a smirk before going on to say, "He spent about an hour talking to me very slowly, as if I were some idiot, about how the government would crumble if anybody were to find out the princess was outside of the inner wall. Not like anyone would believe it, anyways…"

The Engineer had a serious look on his face. He almost seemed disgusted. Another reason he wanted off _The Pride_. The hierarchy on the ship was outrageous. The aristocracy thinking they were so much higher above anyone else without doing anything to prove why they were so special – aside from having money. Hyrule, once a great country, now a big ship run by pompous bureaucrats who didn't know what life was like outside their precious wall. Heck, some darker part of him wished he could show them that a wall meant nothing if it was breeched. He could break section of their precious wall in no time with just a wrench.

"Yeah, well I got your back on it." Itaav said to Link.

Link just smirked. "It doesn't matter, anyways. Even if I was allowed to blab about and people believed me, nothing would change." His smirk dropped and he frowned. "Doesn't that bother you, Itaav? How nothing ever changes on here?"

Rolling his eyes, Itaav said, "Nope, not at all. It's not like I'm making an airship to try and get off this boat."

"Oh yeah. Forgot. Sorry." Link realized only too late that what he had said was the wrong thing to say.

"_Forgot_?" The Engineer was genuinely offended. "How could you forget, _Helmaroc_? She's the most majestic thing you can find on this bucket of bolts! She's my genius, my life's work, my-"

"One true love?" Link finished jokingly.

Scowling, Itaav said, "You wouldn't understand. Me and that ship, we're two of a kind. Beings born to be on the wind."

Link never was entirely sure why Itaav had said that. Sure, he knew that his friend specialized in wind magic but did that mean he was 'born to be on the wind'? As far as Link saw things, if you had wings you were meant to be on the wind or whatever. That wasn't something he was about to share with his friend, however. Saying something like that would put an immediate end to their friendship. "Say what you want, it still looked shaky and unreliable to me."

Another show of genuine disgust came upon Itaav's expression, but it faded quickly. "Oh yeah, that's right. You haven't seen her a few months, have you?" A devilish grin emerged before he went on to say, "If you look at her now, the last thing you'll call her is 'shaky and unrealiable'."

Forking an eyebrow, the blond put on an impish grin of his own. "Oh yeah? I bet she can't even fly yet."

The nerves just kept getting struck. Itaav was now getting slightly irrational. Link was purposefully pushing his buttons, a specialty of his, really. Funnily enough, that was one of the reasons they were friends. If anybody else got Itaav angry, they just got a foul-mouthed and uncooperative Engineer. When Link got Itaav upset, the Engineer actually pushed himself to work harder. It was a weird type of friendship that often had the paler boy think, _With a friend like him who needs enemies?_

Itaav's jaw swished back and forth for a second before he sneered and brushed a lock of lavender hair out of his face. "Bet, huh? How much?"

"Twenty rupees."

"Thirty."

"Fine. We hit shore in a few days. If she flies, I lose." Link said.

"Then prepare to lose." It was a statement that Itaav said with utmost confidence. The _Helmaroc_ may not have been finished, but she could glide for short periods of time. And she could fly if she had some help. Help of a rather unfair nature that Link didn't need to know about.

* * *

Days after the raid, Zelda still had trouble believing that Cole was dead. Even in her all black attire, standing next to her brother at the funeral ceremony, she had the hardest time believing it. But he was dead. It wasn't as if there was no proof. There was a body left behind, as well as bloodstains covering the area he was last in.

But he didn't look dead now. He looked asleep upon the pyre, the mortals wounds he sustained cover up by clothes and cosmetics. And those idiotic little hats the man always wore… He was just an odd duck, she supposed. She had always thoguth they hid something, but they didn't had a thing. Just red-orange hair, neat and tidy as it always seemed to be.

The pyre wasn't burning yet. His Last Rites had to be said as well as other traditions Zelda didn't care for. Honestly, she didn't care much for death at all. Who did, really? The Royal Funerary Deck was never a happy place. It was small and the sun was shining down unforgivingly upon the already bleached wood of the deck. It was a beautiful day for his Last Rites, Zelda supposed. She still hated it. That terrible little man, sacrificing his own life for hers… And now there she was, at his funeral, awaiting the horrid smell of burning flesh.

Her eyes drifted off in the distance, out towards the sea. They were near the Great Continent now. In all likelihood, _The Pride_ would be taking its place at the massive harbor the Gorons and Zora had constructed for it. But her eyes looked beyond the shadowy land mass and out further towards nothing. She wasn't looking for anything. She just didn't want to see…

Zelda could feel the heat coming off the pyre and the beginning smells of cooking meat now. The Rites had been said. Once he was completely burned, the ashes would be gathered and then spread out to the sea. Dissolving in the sea, feeding life and continuing nurturing the rest of the world.

Against, she was reminded how much she hated Death. Because even after it occurred, the world still kept on going. There was no stopping the passage of time, the vast majority of the world never knowing that a man had sacrificed his life for the sake another – another he didn't even like.

Tears stung at her eyes, but she refused to blink. If she blinked, the tears would fall. She didn't want them to. She just kept her gaze focused upon the nothing beyond the Continent. But there was no stopping it. Zelda blinked and the tears fell.

_Damn you, Cole_. She thought bitterly. _I'm not supposed to cry for you. Damn you, why did you die?_

Little did Zelda know, however, that she hadn't been looking out to nothing. Because there _was_ something beyond the Continent. One could call it the edge of the world, maybe even the end of the world. Because there was only one place so far out into the Great Sea that could fit such titles.

A solitary island of good size with storm clouds brewing above it at all times. On that island was nothing but forest, and in that forest was… nothing. Or that's what a first glance would say. It was a thick forest, seemingly never ending and lifeless, despite being brimming with hidden life. Throughout the forest and the strange, eerie fog that seemed to be its only inhabitant, were statues; crystalline statues, lifelike with perfect expressions of terror and fear. And when lightning struck and just a flicker of light neared the statues, one could see what exactly the inhabitants of the crystal prisons are.

Children… with the occasional fairy.

But even deeper on the island was one active inhabitant; a young woman sitting upon what seemed to be a throne carved into the largest tree in the forest. But she was not sitting regally like a queen. She was hugging her legs, an expression of terrible pain on her face. Green hair plastered to her face from sweat, she was panting wildly.

"**COLE**." She shouted in a voice that was her own yet not her own. "**COLE DAMN YOU. WHERE ARE YOU?**" She winced before letting out a terrible scream. The lightning and thunder above became more violent as she shouted and flailed in her throne. Her thrashing eventually became so violent, she was rolling around in the grass below, hands clamped upon her head.

He simply didn't understand these mortal bodies. Why? Why did they reject him so? Did this one not have enough power to house him? He had been in it for nigh on a century, why was it rejecting him _now_?

He opened his eyes, or rather, the girl's eyes. But for now, even through the unbearable pain, they were his eyes. The spasm of pain having come to an end, he stood up and staggered for a moment, panting tiredly. They weren't responded the same, his legs… or her legs… No, _his_ legs! They belonged to Malladus, King of Demons and-

He screamed again, the young woman's voice joining his own in a chorus of pain. "**_DAMN YOU COLE. GET BACK HERE WITH MY NEW BODY. THIS ONE REJECTS ME IT IS UNSUITABLE I DEMAND A NEW BODY DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN IT. GET BACK HERE COLE. GET BACK HERE NOW. I DEMAND MY NEW VESSEL._**"

* * *

As far as villains go... didn't care for Malladus too much in Spirit Tracks. As many people have stated... Ganon rip off, ja? For this story I'm going to make Malladus a bit more... original. Anyways... I can't say anything more on that.

See ya next week.


	6. Test Flight

Well, in case you haven't noticed, I've officially nixed update schedules. Too difficult to keep at the moment. Self-pressure isn't always good, I've decided. Also, if you guys want regular updates on what I'm up to, please visit my DA instead. Not even for the art, but just for the journal entries. I update those like every week, sometimes more often, and i usually always do include some sort of business about my fanfics. In fact, most of the people that keep tabs on me in my DA can claim to be very up to date on matters of my fanfics. XD

Example, if you check my DA, then you will know that my computer has been virused. Did it affect the story? if it did then I wouldn't be updating now would I? Naw, the story's just fine and the virus will not effect the chapters of this story or _Forgotten Legends_.

**SubZeroChimera**, hehe, you'll see. But not in this chapter.

**Ephriokko**, yes, Itaav is still vaati, let's not forget that. XD As for Cole, hehehe, don't count the chickens before they've hatched... As for castle in the Sky, I had just watched the movie when I thought of the concept for this fanfic. It's a heavy influence, really, but I'd be lying if I said other things like general steampunk and How To Train Your Dragon weren't influences as well. XD

_

* * *

The Pride of the Goddesses_ was always terribly active whenever it was ported on the harbor specifically made for it. Almost everyone on the ship was rushing and crowding the catwalks, all trying to get off the ship to visit the marketplace on land, meet with relatives and so on.

But two boys weren't in any such rush to get the catwalks.

Itaav was confidently and proudly leading Link to the fruit of his labors high on one of the sail decks. It had taken a while for the Engineer to get permission from above to be able to use that space for his airship. He'd chosen that place specifically too. It was one of the few spaces that allowed conversion into a small little hangar. In fact, he had to build the little hangar and reinforce it with shield spells before he even began on _Helmaroc_. He wasn't about let some hurricane to blow it away.

Climbing deck after deck after deck, though, wasn't Link's idea of a good start to the day. It was just days ago that the princess had landed on him from who knows how many feet in the air, and while the fairies fixed him up, they couldn't take all the aches and pains away. But the Scaler found himself more intrigued with the fact that there were so many decks on the ship he called home. This may not have been his first time going up these decks, but every time he climbed them he still couldn't believe the massive size of the place. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure he'd been on the other side of _The Pride_.

"Deck7B-13," Itaav announced with a sly grin as he approached their door.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Let's just get through, I'm tired of walking." He snarled.

His friend rolled his eyes and said, "Pansy." But he opened the door and led the way through right after.

The door went right into the small hangar that Itaav had fashioned. Upon going in, Link hadn't seen much change from last. It was still a dark and warm place, warm in a very unpleasant and stuffy sort of way that Itaav somehow didn't seem to mind, and the only major light seeming to come from the open hangar door. But even though it was still a bit dark, the mess that was the _Helmaroc_ could still be seen, clumped to one side of the hangar with its dirty and oily tarp covering. Link did have to admit that, even with a tarp covering it, it certainly did look bigger.

Itaav clutched the tarp dramatically. "And now…" he said, as if anticipating a drum roll, "The _Helmaroc_!" The tarp came off.

From the way his friend constantly spoke of its beauty and prowess, Link had expected something grand and glorious. And maybe that was how Itaav viewed it. Maybe the Engineer truly did think his precious _Helmaroc_ was a work of art for the ages. To Link, it just looked like a piece junk made from scrap metal, dirty canvas, and two-by-fours.

"You're kidding, right?" Link asked flatly.

Again, Itaav looked truly, deeply, and mortally offended. "Kidding? How can you not admire her? Her frame, made of intricately designed, hollowed out iron tubes – designed after the skeletal composition of a bird! The wings are even designed to flap when necessary! And the tail wing, the turn radius it has! I could go on and on abou-"

"Don't. Please." Link said as he approached what he viewed to be a hunk of junk. He poked one of the canvas wings and his finger immediately recoiled. "It looks like it'll break any second."

"Shows what you know," Itaav snapped. "I suppose the best way to prove you wrong is to take care of our bet."

"Let's do it." Challenged Link.

"Ladies first," Itaav gestured to open air cockpit.

"Then go on in." Link said with a smile.

His friend just gave him a snide expression before going in first, arranging himself in his pilot's seat. It wasn't anything like Link had seen before. The back of the chair was down low, positioning Itaav at an obtuse angle rather than at the right angles normal chairs made. Itaav's outstretched arms were holding onto a small steering wheel, and there were pedals more towards the front on the chair stand - leaving Link wondering where on earth Itaav had got those since there weren't any bicycles on the ship.

"So how does thing move?" Link asked as he reluctantly entered. He still felt that Itaav's precious airship would break at any second.

"It has wheels at the bottom. On a really windy day it can take off on its own, but on a normal day, even with the drafts up here, the sails take away most of the wind. And since the sails are so huge, even when they're not up they block wind. So it needs a little nudge." With a smirk, Itaav lowered his goggles over his eyes.

Link took that as a sign he should put his own goggles on. As he hastily put them on, the machine suddenly lurched forward. The blond really hadn't expected it to be so sudden and ended up nearly falling to the bottom of the cockpit, only stopping himself by grabbing onto the rim of the cockpit. "Magic's cheating!" Link made sure to shout out.

"It's just a head start! Don't get your undies in a knot!" Itaav shouted back.

Link frowned, mostly because he wasn't sure whether or not Itaav was lying about 'head starts' or not. They may have been friends but Link knew that Itaav didn't always tell the whole truth. And there wasn't anything he could do about it since he wasn't magically inclined at all.

The _Helmaroc_ zipped out of the hangar and onto the small deck quicker than Link was comfortable with. He kept his hands tight around the rim of the cockpit, expecting the airship to at least lift off of the floor a little. It didn't. The end of the deck was coming.

There was good news and bad news in this situation. The good news was that this deck had no rails to block the passage of the airship. The bad news was that, because of the deck's location, there was nothing but water to cushion the crash of the airship. And landing in water at how knew how many feet high was pretty the same as landing on flat sheet of rock. Very painful, dangerous and, in all likelihood, deadly.

"Itaav…" Link said quietly. His friend did not respond. The _Helmaroc_ dipped down as it fell over the deck. "Itaav!" He cried again, only to be ignored again. They were falling closer and closer to the water. And if they somehow managed to survive the fall, they were stills crewed. At least Link was, because he couldn't swim. "_Itaav!_" Link screeched.

"And here we go!" Itaav shouted in what sounded almost like maniacal glee. Pulling down at the steering wheel with all his might, the airship's nose gradually went up. This was all mostly for show on Itaav's part. They'd fallen so low there really wasn't any sort of eddy of wind that could lift them like that, not that Link knew that. Right now the lift was all happening because of the wind magic that Itaav had always been so good with. Unfortunately, he never counted on it involving so much effort. They couldn't be up on _Helmaroc_ for long if the process was going to be this draining… And especially if Link kept squealing like a little girl.

The airship finally made it high enough to glide on its own. Catching the breeze under its wings, the ship lurched for a moment before steadily and smoothly going bobbing up and down with the wind.

Link, who had finished screeching and panicking as soon as he noticed they had been lifting rather than falling, still found himself having a little trouble letting go of the rim of the cockpit. He had a feeling he shouldn't move around too much anyways. Too much weight on one side would throw off the balance, probably. Worse yet, this all meant that Itaav had won the bet. Whether climbing up to the updraft was real or fake, it did prove that this piece of junk his friend admired so much was airworthy. And if was fake, Link couldn't prove it. So either way, Itaav won.

"Still think this girl's junk?" He heard Itaav say from the front.

"I guess it isn't," Link conceded a bit bitterly. "Not impressive to look at, though."

"She doesn't need to be," Itaav countered. It wasn't but a few seconds later that he added, "But I plan to work on that when the kinks are all ironed out."

The Scaler frowned. "Kinks?"

"Yeah, kinks. You know, flaws?"

"Just making sure I heard right because we are kind of… riding the kinked machine."

"Oh relax!" Itaav said, glad his friend couldn't see the evil grin appearing on his expression. "It's nothing that would interfere right no-" He cut himself off into a deathly silence before the airship rocked uneasily. This was all his own doing, of course, but he didn't want Link to know that.

Panicked as the ship did another sudden rock, Link asked, "Itaav? Itaav, why did it just do that? Why is it still doing that?"

"I-I don't know! I think it might be a malfunction in the tail wing!" He cried out, all the while glad Link didn't have the guts to wander to the front of the craft to see his amused face.

"What? B-but that controls the steering right? We're still over the water Itaav! I can't swim!" Cried the blond.

Itaav was genuinely surprised at how much he was enjoying making Link panic, but he decided he may as well have at least one more laugh before landing and finally letting his friend relax. He dipped the _Helmaroc_ down towards the water at an alarming speed. Link was yowling out profanity and prayers, or a weird mix of both, as they lowered and lowered. And then Itaav pulled up, again using a good chunk of his own magic to propel them upwards, before steering them back towards the hangar.

"Gotcha."

It took Link a full minute to grasp what had happened before he started yelling profanity at Itaav, and for a moment the Engineer considered that continued gliding might be better for his self-preservation than landing. But Link began rocking the airship himself so much that Itaav was really given no choice.

He set the _Helmaroc_ down, just narrowly avoiding a punch from Link as the vessel came to a complete stop. Ducking out of the way and jumping off his seat clumsily, he climbed out of the _Helmaroc_'s cockpit.

"Get back here!" Link shouted, clumsily following the simpler way out of the airship with his jelly-legs. But even with the wobbly walk, he was catching up to the purple haired Engineer quickly.

"Listen, sorry! You can keep your rupees! Sorry!" Itaav yelled as he ran out of the hangar.

Link continued to shout bloody murder.

* * *

"Zev, _please_," Zelda was gripping the sleeve of her brother. "_Please_ let me leave the ship!"

"Zelda, I'm telling you, those Gerudo are not on the ship! You're perfectly safe!" The prince said tiredly, attempting to wrench his sisters hand off of him. He did love her, he really did, but her pointless worrying was getting to him.

"But how do you know!" The princess asked. "Did you find them?"

Zev flushed, slightly embarrassed. "Well, no, but that's precisely why-"

"That doesn't mean they're gone, Zev! It just means you haven't found any evidence that they're still here! Really, you're reasoning is stu-"

"Zelda." Her brother looked down at her with a harsh expression. "What my reasoning is doesn't matter. There have been no sightings of the Gerudo here or anywhere else on the ship since the raid. And I understand that Cole's death has you on edge and may have you paranoid – but you are not leaving this ship. Princesses don't leave the ship. Ever." Zev's voice was firm and cold. It startled her. He'd never used that tone of voice with her before... and even he seemed to notice it. For a moment, the hardness in his face wavered, but returned quickly. "Now enough of this. You're late for your tutoring. Go."

She bit her lip and nodded before heading the opposite way down the hall. All these years Zev still treated her as if she'd never grown up. She never realized she had been treating him the same way. She had always viewed him as the boy that would always be willing to do whatever she said because he was her "big brother." But now he was a fully grown up and realized prince; someone who knew that not being calm in the face of insecurity would send the wrong messages to everybody. And from that brief glimpse of uneasiness on him, he didn't believe most of the words he had said (though he probably was trying). He was trying to make her feel better, in his own way.

_But it's not working, doofus._ She thought bitterly, completely passing the room she was supposed to be receiving her tutoring at. Phooey on the tutor today, she had better things to think about! _They're still around and I know it! It isn't safe in here!_

It wasn't as if she could leave either, though. She couldn't. Zelda was still the princess, and as such she had a responsibility. _… Even it is just to be a figurehead._

All of a sudden, being a princess didn't sound so great. Well, it really wasn't all that great, she thought, but she didn't exactly have anything to compare it to. Or rather, having visited the outer wall for the first time just the other day, she did have something to compare to… and she wasn't quite sure whether she liked the outer wall or the inner wall. If only there was some sort of… middle wall. She would've liked that. And if she had been born into a middle wall, she probably wouldn't have to worry about Gerudo stealing her off in the night.

Then again, she didn't really have to think about it now since it wasn't night. She kept thinking about it anyways. Being inside this cramped ship, the estate they called the palace… She shuddered before pausing to look behind her. Zelda had an eerie feeling that someone was following her, but there couldn't have been. She knew that for sure because this particular hall was barren and devoid of any sort of secret passage. Unless her stalker was thin enough to fit behind the tapestries hung on the wall.

She hugged herself as she shuddered again. All of a sudden, the shadows around her felt very… uninvited. Everything was becoming claustrophobic.

Zelda threw off her shoes and ran down the hallway into the closest room she could find. It was one of the "palace's" many tea-rooms, which was perfect since they all had balconies. Startling a few maids and butlers that seemed to be readying the room for mid morning tea, she went straight for the balcony and clutched at the rails farthest out on the deck. Taking in a breath of the salty sea air, she realized she was breathing hard. Was she really that's scared…? Scared of something that wasn't there? Was the threat of the Gerudo possibly looming anywhere really frightening her that much…

No. That wasn't fear of the Gerudo. That was fear of something else. But what could it-

"What's that?" Zelda thought out loud as she saw something zooming around the bow of the main ship. It was certainly much too big a seagull – unless it was a monster seagull. Actually, a monster seagull sounded intriguing… and it was kind of shaped like a bird, whatever it was flying around… Was it a mutant bird? Squinting her eyes in an attempt to get a better look at it, she realized it was moving a little too statically to be a bird. And she almost thought she may have seen people in it. Was it some sort of aircraft?

"Amazing…" Someone on _The Pride_ had built an airship! A working airship! For a moment, just watching the airship glide steadily through the air was enough to make her forget her own worries… only to replace with it longing. Seeing that airship fly through the sky without a care in the world, she knew the people piloting that had the capability to leave. They could come and go to _The Pride_ as they pleased, go wherever they wanted to go, see all the places they wanted to see… had something to run away with.

Briefly, Zelda wondered if in her mind she was being like all the princesses in the storybooks who wanted to run away and not be a princess. She supposed she might have been similar to them, except she really didn't mind being a princess. All the danger that seemed to be involved with being a princess lately, however, was a completely different story. She could do without the Gerudo and people dying for her.

Just as Itaav sent _Helmaroc_ soaring down wildly to send Link in a panic, Zelda took her eyes off of them. Again she was swept up in a stream of guilt over the death of Cole. And again she remembered that there were still Gerudo on this ship, looking for her. She looked back into the tea room she had just been in, carefully eyeing the maids there. They looked like normal Hylian and plain old human girls… but were they really? Was she just being paranoid like Zev had been saying she was?

She looked back out to where she had seen the airship, but it was out of view now. An airship… if she had one of those, she could break tradition and leave the ship. She never thought she would ever even think it, but she really wanted to get off _The Pride_ now. To Zelda, the great big ship that she had been born and raised on simply didn't seem safe anymore. _I think anywhere is safer than here now…_

And then a new thought process hit her. _The Pride_ was no longer needed. They had land on the Great Continent, and there were islands scattered few and far in between the Great Sea. What was the point of staying on the sea, in a massive ship in which only the people in the Inner Wall seemed to have any sort of personal space?

Tradition most likely. Much like princesses never left _The Pride_, Hyrule would remain a country floating in the sea… even though it always hadn't been.

The _land_ of Hyrule. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine it, but frowned. She couldn't. Because the only land that came to mind was the image of the Great Continent, something she'd never been on or really even saw.

Zelda opened her eyes again.

She didn't want to be on _The Pride of the Goddesses_ anymore. Did that mean she didn't want to be a princess anymore too?

_Oh don't be silly Zelda! Listen, try to think of this from Zev's point of view! Even if it _is_ stupid reasoning!_ She thought.

No Gerudo had been found after the raid. They all ran away back to their ship. It was very possible that the ones who had killed Cole ran away to the ship too. But that didn't make much sense since they were on a very different side of the ship. They didn't have the time. Which means they came from a different ship. There was no evidence of a different ship having been there, so perhaps they sailed away. Yes, yes that made perfect sense. After all, why stay on the ship for so long after the raid and not take any action? They did run away… So she had been worrying for no reason…

She scowled. That wasn't what happened. Logically, Zelda supposed it made sense, but why kill Cole? That made no sense at all. It wasn't like the Gerudo. Maybe it was like the Gerudo of old, but not the Gerudo of the _Sea Naga_. They would rough people up, wound them, but generally not kill. And Cole certainly couldn't have been so much trouble that they would have to kill him! There were so many ways they could have avoided the messiness of killing; especially since they outnumbered him!

Now Zelda could see why even Zev was troubled by his own line of thinking. Cole's death just didn't fit into this equation very well. It was very out of character for them…

"Ah, princess?"

For a moment she had thought she'd jumped out of her shoes before remembering she had dumped those in the hall. Taking a deep breath, she looked to the maid who had addressed her. "Y-yes?"

"Um, morning tea is ready, and since you're already here, we thought you might like some?"

"Oh. Oh yes! Tea… that would be lovely, thank you…" Zelda said with an anxious smile. Yes, tea would be nice… It would take her mind off of all these complicated thoughts, if only for a moment.

* * *

Zelda's segment was originally going to be longer so this chapter would get straight into the action of the story... But I would've had to cut it off at a funky place, so decided I'd just start on the action next chapter. In fact, it kind of makes more sense to start next chapter, but I won't get into that.

You know, this Zelda is fun to write. She's got kind of a quirky thought process that's both very childish and philosophical at the same time. Being a sheltered but educated princess with a brother like Zev is probably to blame.

Speaking of Zev, he's actually not a terribly important character. XD This chapter will probably be the last we see of him for either the whole story or the vast majority of the story.


	7. Shadows in the Night

Sorry for the long wait. I'd respond to last time's reviews but I'm not up to it today, guys.

So, if any of you have been keeping up with journal's on DA, then you'll know that August was an absolutely terrible month, and as of today, it doesn't look like September will be as fabulous I'd hoped it would be.

So yeah, not feeling terrible talkative today. checked most of this chapter ahead of time but the later half not so much, so there may be a few mistakes here and there. Whatever.

* * *

Itaav flinched as he attempted to twist a bolt on the _Helmaroc_. A hand went up to his left shoulder, wincing slightly from the brush of his fingers against a fading bruise. That was just one of the horrible results from his precious airship's test flight. There had been another hit in the gut and Link had attempted to give him another matching bruise on the opposite shoulder.

The Engineer scowled and continued his attempt at tightening the bolt without pain. Just a few more bolts to tighten and his baby would be ready to fly on its own, without his help. The pedals would be safe to use and the wings he had rigged for it could finally flap as necessary, allowing him to go higher and lower at will without the use of his magic. And then he would finally give it another test the next day. It was too late now, being night and all. But he couldn't wait either. _The Pride_ would be heading back out to sea in a few days, and he'd prefer his landing base wasn't moving – especially for a test flight.

And he definitely wasn't taking Link along for the next flight.

Nope. As of that moment, they were not friends. Personally, Itaav just thought that Link was being dramatic, but apparently he had really pissed his friend – or rather, former friend – off. Enough for Link to chase him over half the ship and manage to get a few punches in. Needless to say, Itaav began fighting back. But not by throwing punches. It wasn't that he was bad in a fist fight; he just preferred not to get his hands dirty in a fight. In fact, he just preferred not to get into physical fights. He was just fighting back to run away. Link didn't appreciate it, though, and persistently kept chasing him even with blasts of wind magic coming at him from all sides.

It only stopped when a couple of the Royal Guard were called in and forced to separate them. As they were carried off to one of the brigs of _The Pride_, nasty words were exchanged and they swore never to speak to each other again. Because of his lineage and standing, Itaav managed to get out of the brig quick enough and then went straight back to his precious _Helmaroc_. And that was just fine with him.

He didn't need people anyways. He had his airship. That was all that mattered… That's what he told himself, at least.

_There's no use in being friends with _him_ anyways._ A voice in the back of his head told him. _He'll only prove to be troublesome in the future._

"I suppose that's true…" he mumbled back to himself. This wasn't an uncommon occurrence, him talking to himself. He just didn't do it often in public. People looked at him strangely when he did. But the hangar was safe for that because he was alone. With himself. Because he was talking to himself.

It wasn't weird. Everyone talked to themselves, just in their own way.

"Still, he's the only guy I really talked to on a daily basis."

_So? What does that matter? An occasional interesting conversation is all he was good for. Other than that he really holds no use to me._

"But it isn't really so much 'use' as it is company." He told himself thoughtfully.

His inner self paused for a moment before saying _I have the _Helmaroc_._

"Well, yeah… But, much as it pains me to say… she's just a machine. Sure, she talks in her own special way, communicates in a way that no one but me can understand… not the same as live companionship, though."

_… Live companionship is overrated…_

Itaav paused in his bolt tightening to think on that statement from his inner-self or whatever it was. Alone… Yes. He had been alone for a while. After his mother had died, he was alone, thrown into the orphan's quarters with so many others that had lost their parents and guardians. Being surrounded by so many, he had still been alone.

And then there were the dreams… Dreams he still had. Nightmares of darkness extending into years of emptiness and loneliness. The worst part was that those nightmares seemed so real. They were so terrifying, he'd wake up in cold sweats, hysterical and inconsolable. Terrible dreams of being alone for years, maybe even centuries on end, and there was nothing he could to do stop it. Waking up never even occurred to him because it felt so real. A prison of nothingness that would drive him insane and-

"They're just dreams." Itaav reassured himself out loud. He had to. His wrench hand was shaking. Actually, his whole body was shaking. He was getting into a cold sweat just thinking about those dreams. He shook his head and continued on tightening the bolts, clearing his mind.

_That's right. I've handled it before. I can still handle it. So just focus on my little beauty here, and I'll be flying tomorrow – maybe even to the Palace of Winds._ That train of thought had him much more cheerful again, because it reminded him of his main goal. He was going to that Palace, and he certainly didn't need anyone but himself to do it!

* * *

Zelda knelt by her bedside, mulling over what to say for her nightly prayers. It was late at night, and she should've been asleep hours ago. But she was only getting sleepy now.

As far as prayers went, there were plenty of dribbles and drabbles already pre-written, embracing the glory of the goddesses and the lesser gods, but the princess found those rather dull. If there was one thing she was sure of, it was that the gods just had to be tired of hearing the same boring words over and over again. So she liked to personalize her prayers, often leading to strange instances like a servant walking in to see her having a full conversation with no one but herself, even though her words were meant for the gods.

She shivered lightly as a breeze came in through her open window. Her mind taken off her prayer for the moment, she got up and went to close her window. As her hands rested on the handles, however, Zelda paused and took the time to look outside. There wasn't much to see. It was night, so the sea looked black as ever. And the side her room was on in the ship didn't allow for a view of Kakariko Harbor. All that was visible to her was a black seascape.

But the darkness of this particular night had frightened her somewhat. Hastily, Zelda shut the windows and locked them. She turned on her heel to return to her bedside, but then turned right back around to pull the curtains closed.

Ever since the Gerudo had raided the ship, she always felt like she was being watched. It made sense with the trauma of the situation, she supposed, even though her rational mind knew that nothing at all was happening. There was no reason to be afraid. The Gerudo were gone, even if they hadn't been found. But it had been nearly two weeks, and if they were still around, they had been very careful not to be seen.

Back on her knees and hands clasped together in prayer, she returned to her nightly prayer.

The window forced itself open.

With a squeal, she turned on her knees and looked back to her window. The curtains were blowing with an ominous wind… and it wasn't even a forceful wind. It was just another creepy breeze. But why would her locked window be forced open from such a measly little wind?

Without knowing why, she gulped nervously. It almost seemed like her dark room had just gotten darker… Her night vision was completely gone. Her rational mind tried to tell her that this was all just in her head. But her gut knew better. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Zelda stood up slowly, looking around blindly, not sure what was happening or what she should do. All that was really visible were the curtains, and she knew she didn't want to go anywhere near those. It was too dar- what was she saying, too dark? She blamed not thinking of witchlight sooner on the nagging fear. Muttering a small word, a bouncing blue orb of werelight appeared. The sight of what she saw made her scream and fall right on her butt – as well as shutting her up quickly since her head hit the frame of her bed.

"Keh, you're still an annoying girl. But I guess I shouldn't have expected a change after a week and a half." Said Cole's spiteful voice.

"B-but! You're dead! I saw the body!" She squealed.

The short form of Cole, looking particularly devilish in the bluish hue of the werelight, smiled evilly. "Was it my body you saw? Really? Take a closer look, _princess_." The last word was very sarcastically.

Nonetheless, Zelda tried to keep her head on her. What had he meant 'take a closer look?' He looked… completely different, actually.

The Cole she had known was a short, pale man with an interesting fashion sense. This Cole was still short, but his pale skin, even in the blue witchlight, looked almost green; his teeth all had sharp little points, and perhaps what was the most obvious change of all, were the two demonic horns jutting out right from the man's violently red hair – coincidentally right where he would wear his two little hats.

"What are you…?" Zelda squeaked faintly.

Cole smiled a smile that made him seem like he wasn't entirely there. "What am I? KEH! Ignorant child, I'm exactly what I look like. A demon. And I'm afraid I've waited much too long."

"Too long for what…?" Zelda asked dumbly, as she had managed to figure out it probably had something to do with her. How she wished she could scoot back further, but the damned bedpost…

"Tch," Cole waved a hand in dismissal. "A stupid little wench like you doesn't need to know." From the darkness behind him, shadowy hands emerged, each finger tipped with a vicious looking claw. Worst of all, there were probably more than she thought just waiting all around her.

Her mind raced. She had to think of something fast, but what could she do? Cole certainly was a demon, there was no questioning that. He could probably throw any offensive magic she knew right back at her. There was the chance he couldn't, but she didn't see how that was possible. Even if she did knock him out of the way, those shadowy hands would still get her. _I have to get him to talk. He's still Cole, which means he still thinks he's better than me so…_

"B-but, how did we find your body! I mean, it doesn't make sense-" Zelda began, before getting cut off.

"FEH! Rotten girl, I'm a demon! Naturally it would be super simple for me to fake my own death." Cole said, falling for her trick to buy herself some time. "Those pesky Gerudo came and I had to make sure you were unharmed! So I sent you off, killed the Gerudo, used what I could of them to make a suitable replacement, and threw the rest out!"

In the short amount of time Zelda had bought herself, she thought of absolutely nothing that could save her. The only thing she could think of was running – which she had already established was a bad idea. But running quickly left her mind. Cole was closing in, and for some reason, she was completely frozen. It wasn't magic. She would have felt if it was magic. No, this was fear. She was literally paralyzed with fear.

"Now if that's enough stupid questions from a stupid girl I'll-"

"Farore's Wind!" She screeched all of a sudden.

The teleportation spell had worked just as it had last time. And she didn't know why she hadn't thought of it earlier. The only issue was that she didn't have a place in mind when she thought of it this time, so when she teleported she was very much afraid of where she'd end up. In the split second during the transfer of her body to a completely different place, Zelda thought of all the horrible places she could move to. She could end up high up off the deck or worse… the water. If she hadn't been flying through the air in millions of pieces to form on the end of some other location, she would've paled at the thought. She'd never been off the ship, so she definitely didn't know how to swim.

In that split second of teleportation, with all that her mind was going through, she found herself praying to the goddesses for safety.

* * *

Damned Itaav and his damned airship and the damned sea. After managing to knock around and send his ex-friend running, he'd gone onto the mainland and stayed there. After all, no scaling duty while at port – at least not for a Senior Scaler like Link.

He'd currently been staying at an inn in the town, but since it was the last night before going back to sea, he couldn't sleep. He was afraid he'd oversleep and miss the boarding, so even if it was the middle of the night, he was walking back to _The Pride_. Every other step, he'd kick at the road, watching the dust rise and fall back to the floor. It wasn't that it didn't happen on the ship, but more like he just wasn't used to dirt outside of the harvest deck.

Why couldn't people just keep their feet on the ground? Frankly, Link felt very comfortable with his boots in the dirt. More comfortable than they felt on a ship swaying back and forth. At the same time, he was very comfortable on the side of ships, cutting off all kinds of strange things from the hull.

Still, whenever he came onto the mainland, he couldn't help but feel a bit more at home than he ever did on _The Pride_. Maybe one day when he had the rupees he'd live on the Continent. He'd be away from that giant hunk of iron and the troubles it came with – and away from that asshole Itaav. Sure they'd been friends for years, but he supposed that deep animosity that Itaav once had for him never really went away. Not completely.

Truth be told, there was always something about Itaav that Link didn't like either. It wasn't anything he could place, but he remembered that when he first saw the older boy, he actually thought he was a monster. In retrospect, that was really nasty to think. Sure, Itaav looked… well, he didn't look like anyone else on the ship, that was for sure, but he didn't look like a monster. But for some reason, that was how Link perceived him at first.

Itaav did kick him in the shin, though.

Whatever the case, Link wasn't about to try and fix that friendship. It wasn't the first time Itaav had done something like that and taken it too far, nor was it the first time Link attempted to beat the ever loving crap out of him.

Link was around halfway towards the harbor when he stopped, thinking he heard something. It was almost like déjà vu, because he could've sworn he heard this particular high-pitched screaming before. And when he looked up, he saw a very familiar sight.

He would've cursed his luck if he had the time, but he didn't since the girl seemed to be closer to the ground than before, and he found himself doing the exact same thing he'd done last time. He ran out a few steps and held but his arms, praying for the best. The goddesses must have heard him that time, because the girl landed right in his arms. He nearly fell over at the surprise amount of weight in his arms (not that whoever it was this time was heavy, it was just still a surprise) but caught himself. The girl continued to scream for a few seconds after she'd been caught, but upon realizing she was safe and sound, looked around confusedly. She looked up at Link, red in the face and not all sure what to say. Link wasn't sure either, especially since the girl was remarkably pretty – even in the dimly lit streets between Kakariko Town and the harbor, he could tell.

Mustering his smoothest and slyest voice he said, "Um, hi?" He should've paid more attention to the few times Itaav took initiative with girls.

Zelda, on the other hand, was still flustered. The exact same thing happened again, with her teleporting feet off the ground. At least this time she hadn't crushed anyone. Still, she had to act professional, she was a princess. "Ah, well met, sir… Could you be so kind as to let me go?"

"Oh. Yeah, sure." He said as he carefully made to put her back on her feet. He was tempted to ask why she had been flying through the air, but hesitated. At the moment, he felt the most eloquent thing he might be able to say would be "Gachk." This was a very strange situation, so he was surprised he had been able to say five monosyllabic words coherently earlier.

Upon standing up straight, Zelda brushed herself off, suddenly feeling self-conscious again. Not because her night-gown was short, because it was a good length, but more because it was on the thin side. She crossed her arms in a measly attempt to feel more covered up and then looked around. Her brow furrowed. "Where is this?"

Link raised his eyebrows, wondering if the girl was serious. "Kakariko Town?"

There was an awkward silence.

"Wait… You mean, Kakariko Town on… the mainland?" Zelda asked, her grip on her arms tightening slightly.

"I don't know about any other places named Kakariko…" Link answered, somewhat puzzled. How could this girl have not known where she was? Then again, how could she have been flying through the air?

Zelda then looked squarely at Link and said with absolute surety, "Sir, I am about to faint. Please catch-"

She fainted.

He caught her right on time, and he was more confused than ever. A beautiful girl falls into his arms in the dead of night before promptly fainting at knowledge that she's on the mainland.

All sorts of nasty thoughts came into his head at that moment. What if she was a witch running away from someone trying to capture her? Would that make her the good guy or the bad guy? But then how would she not know where she was? And why was she in a nightgown, - a _rich_ person's nightgown? A kidnapped noble or something? But how did they get up there? There wasn't any sign of a hot air balloon or an airship – especially since airships were still a rather new technological advancement. They were few and far in between, with Itaav being the only one on _The Pride_ who had a working one – and that was only because he made it himself.

Holding the girl protectively and looking around skittishly, he began the trek to The Pride again. He still had no idea who the girl was or what had happened to her, but he wouldn't be able to get any clue as to who she was just standing in the middle of an empty road. And judging from her reaction to the mainland, she was from _The Pride_, making her origins even more confusing. And where on earth would he take her? She didn't fit in his measly little apartment and if any guard saw him carrying her while she was in a nightgown… it wouldn't look good.

* * *

Itaav was actually having a pleasant dream for once, involving flying through the air on _Helmaroc_ before awaking to an extremely loud banging noise on the door to his hangar – which he'd fallen asleep in yet again.

Shouting, "_Nayru's tits!_" as he woke up, he groggily forced himself up while muttering all sorts of unpleasant words under his breath. Judging from how dark the hangar was, it was still deep in the night. He had no idea who could have been knocking, only that he really wished they hadn't.

Opening the door, he was about to yell angrily at whoever was there until he saw that it was Link carrying a girl dressed in nothing but a nightgown. Neither said anything until Itaav looked back and forth from Link to girl and said, "Listen, bringing a cute girl to me in the middle of the night might be your idea of making everything just fine again… but kidnapping is _not_ the way, man." Even though some bit of his mind found this disturbingly nostalgic and was not at all bothered by it.

"This isn't about _you_!" Link snapped in a hushed yell. "Just let me in and I'll say everything!"

If he weren't still half-asleep to some degree, he would've shut the door on Link's face. Since he was, though, he moved out of the way for Link and the unexpected guest. Actually, both were kind of unexpected, but at least he knew Link. And hopefully, he would get to know the girl a little better.

"Um, just sit anywhere I guess." Itaav mumbled. His hangar wasn't exactly a place meant for sitting and chatting. It wasn't mean for sleeping either, but Itaav didn't usually sleep there because it was comfortable. Convenience was a different story.

When Link placed the girl down and got himself more or less comfortable, Itaav began the pestering process. "So what's with the good looking blond there?"

Link explained what happened. Itaav, now fully awake took another look at the unconscious girl. He went over the story in his head again, before grabbing Zelda's right hand.

"What are you doing?" Link asked in a voice in between worry and suspicion.

"Just checking something," Itaav mumbled, scanning the back of the girl's hand carefully.

It was a weird sensation for Itaav as he checked this girl's hand. Mostly because that disturbing sense of nostalgia had come back again. He couldn't place what exactly he felt, though. He didn't know what was so memorable about her – aside from being extraordinarily pretty. He'd certainly never seen her before… Itaav just knew he had very mixed feelings about her.

Examining the back of her hand very closely, he finally let a little bit of magic flow outward from his hand and held it near hers. He frowned at the following reaction before putting the girl's hand back and figuring out how to tell Link without giving him a panic attack.

"Link?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember the other day how a girl fell out of the sky and you captured her? Just like this one?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember how we found out later it was the princess?"

"Yeah."

"Would you believe me if I said this happened again… say ten or twenty minutes ago."

Link had a poker face then. "No."

"Too bad. That's the princess. The crest is on her hand." Itaav said plainly.

It became eerily silent.

Itaav spoke what they were both thinking. "The princess fell from the sky in her nightgown and you caught her in the dead of night. This won't be fun explaining to the Royal Guard."

The Scaler pressed his forefinger and thumb on the bridge of his nose. He shook his head. "She can't go back."

Itaav stared at Link blankly for a moment before saying, "I'm sorry, say that again? Because I think I heard you say something crazy."

"Itaav, she was running for something! You don't fly through the air or teleport or whatever just for the heck of it!"

"I would." The Engineer said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah but you're weird." Link said quickly before continuing with his original train of thought. "A normal person wouldn't do something that crazy unless they really had to. I think she's in danger."

"If she was then why aren't the guards in a panic?" Itaav asked, even though he knew he was in no place to say that. He didn't know what was going on outside, for all he knew the guards were running around in a huff. "Why haven't they done anything to stop it? This ship may be run by idiots but they like to make sure nothing happens to their figureheads."

Link didn't even touch on all the treasonous, but true, things the purple haired teen had said. In his mind, he tried to think of something to say to that but he didn't really know what he could say. The fact was, no one in the room, save for the unconscious princess, knew what happened to send her flying. "Maybe they didn't know or… Heck, _I_ don't know. I guess we should wait for her to wake up…"

"We, huh?" Itaav said flatly, taking off the goggles that had been resting on his head and polishing the lenses with his shirt.

With a grimace, Link said, "Um. Bygones?"

Itaav kept polishing the lenses on the goggles for a few moments. After the lenses were as pristine as could be with a good, old-fashioned shirt polishing, the Engineer slipped them over his head in their normal place and said in the same flat voice as before, "For now, I guess." His tone going back to reasonable, he continued, "But waiting for her to wake up isn't going to change anything. She still needs to go back. And the less we know, the better for us, I think."

His once-again friend had a point. Link didn't particularly like the point, but it was valid nonetheless. Because if the princess was in danger, then anyone she came into contact with was in danger as well. At least that was Itaav's reasoning, which Link could easily understand. Unlike Link, he could say no and refuse to help out a pretty face – not that the princess had asked for help in the moments before she fainted.

"Ten minutes." Link said quickly. "Ten minutes, and if she doesn't wake up, we take her back."

Itaav's poker face was on. The paler teen looked towards the princess again, his mind swimming with mixed emotions again. While some part of him wanted her to stay so badly, the other part wanted her gone and out of his sight. Then he looked back to Link, seeing that his friend had fire in his eyes. For some reason, that determination kind of irritated Itaav, but he said nothing on it because, at the same time, he could appreciate it. No doubt he had that look on his face when it came to the _Helmaroc_. He couldn't quite understand Link's need to help the princess himself, though, but there was no saying no to that determination.

"Ten minutes, but after that she's going to the guard." Itaav grumbled.


	8. A Wild Goose Chase

Whoa, okay, I so totally did not mean for this go so long not updated. Let's say, there were a multitude of different reasons as to why this wasn't updated for so long, most of which can be attributed to nanowrimo and my horrible school schedule. Anyways, like three quarters of this chapter was written before nano started, soit was killing me not being able to finish and post it. But I'm done with nano and I totally won, so I'm good to go again. Don't know what nano is? Look it up. -w-

Normally, I would take this time to speak to my beloved reviewers. Alas, I am unable to do so right now... because I happen to in class. D:

* * *

Luck evidently favored Link. Not long after that conversation concluded, the princess groggily rose. At first she acted as if she was just rising from her bed, stretching in a way that caused both Link's and Itaav's jaws to lower slightly. The nightgown left little to the imagination, leaving Link feeling like an awkward virgin, and reminding Itaav of… well… he hadn't been with a girl in _that_ way for quite a bit.

Maybe it was feeling the gazes of the two boys on her, but Zelda looked back confusedly before squealing, looking around, and hiding behind the tarped _Helmaroc_.

"Wh-where am I?" She asked shakily, attempting to identify Itaav's hangar and failing. To her, it just looked like a dark, ruddy room. "How did I get here?"

"I brought you here…?" Link ventured, not sure whether he should say that depending on what Zelda may have remembered… or forgotten.

"You fell out of the sky and landed on that poor sap again." Itaav had regained his composure much quicker than Link, so he had said it rather nonchalantly.

"Again?" The girl asked blankly as she stared at Link.

Link blushed, looked away and nodded, not finding any words to respond with. He knew that the princess was attractive, but now that he was seeing her in better light… the princess was _really_ pretty.

"Never mind," Zelda said quickly. Now she seemed to be looking around rather skittishly. "You haven't seen anything strange in the darkness, have you?"

"Strange how?" Both Itaav and Link asked simultaneously.

Still behind the _Helmaroc_, the princess just looked at them and nodded. She looked very worried. "Yes, strange. Like, have the shadows been moving, or have you heard any strange voices?"

Link looked over at Itaav, mostly to see if his friend was just as confused as he was. Instead, the paler boy looked quite serious. With arms crossed, the Engineer was giving the princess a very suspicious expression. "Listen Miss Nibs, you might be able to get away with not explaining anything and then fainting with this guy," he pointed a thumb at Link, who wasn't sure whether to feel offended or not, "But not with me. If baddies are chasing you, then I can't say I like the idea that they may be following you to _my_ hangar."

The girl cocked her head to the side with a cutely puzzled face. "Hangar? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that term…"

One of Itaav's eyebrows ticked in annoyance. "Hangar – it's a place where you keep airships. You're hiding yourself behind my airship." He didn't sound happy.

Now Link was rather confused. Itaav seemed a bit more irritated than Link had originally thought. Sure, he had every reason to be annoyed, but the way his friend was acting seemed a bit much to him.

But the princess didn't seem to get it. Instead, her face visibly brightened. "_You're_ the one with the airship? Oh – I saw it flying just the other day! It looked amazing! Is this it?" She took a peek under the tarp.

And just like that, Itaav's irritation seemingly vanished. This girl actually gave a damn about his airship? Chest swelling with pride, he grinned and said, "Yep, that's her. I call her the _Helmaroc_."

"After that great helmed bird in history?"

"You know about that?"

"Well of course I would - I am the princess, I have a responsibility to know the history of what was Hyrule."

"Um, aren't we a bit off track here?" Link finally interrupted, a bit jealous that something like Itaav's horrid airship was enough to get the princess fascinated.

"Oh… Oh yeah!" Itaav exclaimed. Putting his serious face back on, he said, "What's going on? Why did you teleport out here again?"

The princess put a knuckle to her teeth, biting down lightly. She wasn't at all sure whether she should tell these boys what was happening. Knowing it would be dangerous for them. At the same time, not knowing was just as dangerous, especially if Cole managed to track her down to this place. She could always go straight to the guard and explain everything to them, but knowing her brother, he'd put it up to a nightmare and she had teleported while she slept… or something like that. The point was that her brother wouldn't believe her and Cole also knew that. That's why the demon wasn't at all concerned with whether she saw him or not. Chances are he could have easily whisked her away in the night, while she slept. But the demon was such a jerk, he wanted to see the fear in her.

"Oh…" she thought out loud miserably, "What am I going to do…?"

"Hello? Did you forget about us?" Itaav asked.

Zelda had, actually. "Oh! Sorry. Um… I suppose I should tell you…"

"Yeah, you should." Said the Engineer, going back to being somewhat antagonistic.

"Itaav!" Link hissed.

"What? She should! She landed on you! _Twice_!"

"He's right." Zelda said with a nod of agreement.

The Scaler just looked back and forth between the two. Why was _she_ siding with Itaav?

"But before I answer… May I ask something else…?" Zelda asked, seemingly slightly embarrassed.

"Of course." Link answered graciously. Itaav just forked an eyebrow at him, but didn't object.

"May I stay here? For the rest of the night, at least…?" She asked.

Link opened his mouth to answer, but he was feeling a glare from Itaav. And sure enough, when he looked, the Engineer was staring daggers at him. He looked over at Zelda, said, "Excuse us for a moment," grabbed Link's arm and pulled him aside, both of them facing away from Zelda. "You were about to say 'as long as you'd like,' weren't you?"

Link opened and closed his mouth a few times before going, "So what if I was?"

Again, Itaav's eyebrow twitched. "I told it to her just a few minutes ago: _my_ hangar. What if I don't want her stay here, hm?"

The blond boy gave him an incredulous look. "I can actually think of three reasons why you'd _want_ her to stay. The first being that she's a pretty girl; the second, she likes your piece of junk airship; the third, she needs our help!"

Itaav thought over it for a few moments. "Well, you've got me with the first two – even though my ship is _not_ a piece of junk. The third's mostly you." Though some part of him did want to help Zelda… it was just surprising how much the idea of not helping sounded to him. He really wished no ill will against the princess, but for some reason he felt the need to avoid her. He found that funny – and not funny "haha" -, because when he first met Link he had felt he needed to avoid him… and kick him in the shin, which he did.

… Well, at least he didn't want to kick the princess in the shin. But he did want to avoid her.

"So, does that mean yes?" Link asked.

Itaav frowned. Yes, Zelda was cute. Yes, she seemed interested in the _Helmaroc_. Yes, she did need help. Despite that, his moral compass still wasn't pointing north. He really wished he could just hand her over to the guard and be done with all this. But the compass wasn't pointing south, either. Some part of him did want to help, if only because the girl had a healthy respect for _Helmaroc_… and was pretty. And it was only for one night. Perhaps she would feel fine enough to go back to the Inner Wall by morning…

"One of these days," Itaav growled at Link, "One of these days I need to stop giving _your_ crazy ideas a chance."

Zelda looked at them hopefully as they both turned their attention back to her. She noted that the paler boy didn't seem completely upset, but he didn't look happy either. The blond boy, on the other hand, gave her a bright expression and said, "You can stay."

"But _only_ for the rest of the night." Itaav added.

The princess rested a hand over her chest and sighed in relief. "Oh thank you so much! I promise I won't be much trouble!"

"Just tell us what happened already." Said the Engineer with an impatient cross of his arms.

"Oh, yes, I'll get to that…" She put a thoughtful finger upon her chin, trying to think of what she should and shouldn't tell them. Should she mention Cole? Probably not. She doubted that they cared much about the man if they knew of him at all. "Well, I was getting ready to go to bed when a disturbing wind flew in through the window. So I closed the window, but it opened again. I was frightened and confused, naturally, even more so when I noticed that the shadows around me were moving. I summoned a witchlight and…" She shivered at the memory of seeing the demonic Cole in the pale blue light of her spell – menacing and so full of hate. "Someone was after me…" She said, sure that speaking of demons would certainly revoke their promise to let her stay.

Link and Itaav exchanged glances. The blond had an expression of worry, not for themselves but for the princess. He had been right that something had been chasing her, and he felt the strong urge to protect this girl. But Itaav had noticed the holes in the story that Link was so willing to ignore. If it had been a normal person, she would've noticed him in her room before summoning a light. Heck, the guard probably would have noticed before they could even get to her room. That, and being an Engineer and having access to blueprints and maps of the whole _Pride_, he knew that the princess's quarters were set up in such a way that it would be very difficult for someone with foul intentions to get in from the outside. Not unless they had access to magic or an airship.

… He hoped that wouldn't make him a suspect.

Needless to say, he wouldn't bring it up now, not in front of Link. His friend wouldn't give him a chance to speak let alone debate her story now that he'd agreed to let the princess stay. For the moment, he would have to hope that whatever was after the princess wouldn't find them.

With the given explanation enough for the moment, Itaav irritably found himself continuing his finishing work on his airship. Link wanted to see if he could strike up some conversation with Zelda, but the girl didn't seem like she wanted to talk. Instead, she'd taken the canvas from the _Helmaroc_, since Itaav discarded it to work on the ship, and hid behind it. At the same time, she really did look like she needed some sort of reassurance. But when he'd finally gathered enough of his courage to try and say something to her, the sun began to peek in through the crack of the hangar doors and the morning whistle screeched irritatingly to all.

"Morning's up," Itaav finally announced, looking right at the princess.

The girl bit her lip and nodded. "Um -"

"No." Itaav said before she could even ask the question.

"You don't even know-"

"Yes, I do, Link." Itaav snarled. The tone took Link aback a bit, but his friend lightened slightly and said, "The deal was only until morning. It's morning. The Guard can handle it from here."

Link frowned and stared at his friend harshly.

The paler boy stared right back, and Zelda could almost feel the sparks flying into between their gazes. After a moment, Itaav looked away and scowled. "If it makes you feel better, go get something for her to wear that isn't a canvas tarp." He said, "See, that gives her a little more time. But I swear if you take more than an hour and a half - and yes, I'm being nice and stretching it - she's going out with that tarp whether you're here or not."

Link's expression didn't change much, but he did seem to look slightly triumphant. But then he had a rather dumfounded look on his face. "But… but I don't own any women's clothes."

"And you think I do?" Itaav said. "Just get her something of yours."

Link wished he could argue about this, but his friend's buttons seemed to have been pushed a little too much. Itaav was not going to be open to anything Link tried to say. So he just finally conceded and nodded before hesitantly leaving. He wasn't entirely comfortable leaving Itaav alone with the princess, especially with the Engineer being in the bad mood that he was in, but there was nothing he could do about it.

The princess stayed quiet. She had pretty much echoed Link's last thoughts, not sure she wanted to be around someone that seemed so bad tempered. But she still found her attention drawn to the Engineer's airship. It had to be nearly complete, especially if she saw it flying not too long ago. As Itaav went back to fiddling with the ship, she considered asking him how far along it was. But fearing his bad mood more, she stayed quiet with the tarp covering her. Eventually, her curiosity overcame her and she stood, holding the canvas about her like a cloak, and went to look over the Engineer's shoulder.

It was an awkward sort of quiet. Zelda certainly did not want to make Itaav's mood worse, but she was curious. And Itaav was still irritated about the whole situation, but was doing his best not to snap at Zelda and tell her to go away. He was trying to be logical and rational, telling himself it wasn't her fault that she was born into royalty and therefore a prime target for kidnapping. But now that she seemed a bit more up for talking and his mood was… well, not good - but better than it was before – he could finally pry little more.

"You haven't told us everything, princess." He said.

Zelda flinched at the accusatory tone, but said nothing.

"There are a lot of holes in your story. And I'm not saying I don't believe you're not in trouble; my gut tells me that you're dealing with something… something the ship isn't used to seeing. My main question is, could it follow you here?" Despite the accusation from before, he carried this part of his dialogue as if the conversation was casual.

The princess wasn't sure how to answer. There was no tricking this fellow, that was for certain… not that she had meant to trick him, but she'd rather he didn't know anything about Cole. As for whether or not Cole could find her here… "I don't know." She said honestly.

Itaav definitely did not like the answer, but said nothing.

Neither of them said anything.

Minutes passed and then Zelda decided to attempt to lighten things somewhat… or at least change the subject. "Um… you have a strange hair color. Is it natural?"

Itaav felt his eyebrow tic. Mostly because he wasn't entirely comfortable with the subject of his odd looks. "Natural." He said responded shortly. "And before you ask, yes, this is me with a tan."

"But it doesn't look as if you've gotten any sun at all." The girl stated blankly.

"Weird, in'it?" He said sarcastically.

Zelda became quiet again, seeing her change of subject was not exactly ideal. She just went back to watching what he was doing, but she ended up just going back to her little corner. Itaav was giving off a rather threatening vibe, one that Zelda didn't wish to challenge in any way.

Link had come back with some clothes shortly after that. "I managed to find some older stuff that doesn't fit me anymore. It still might be a little big, though." He said to Zelda apologetically as he handed the clothes to her. Itaav took that as his signal to move away from the _Helmaroc_, which was a sort of invitation for her to get dressed behind the ship.

Itaav and Link then retreated a bit further back and turned their backs to the princess. Link was surprised to find himself tempted to take a peek behind him, but he didn't. He was just left with a tomato red blush of embarrassment for even considering the act. Itaav just seemed irritated, but he wasn't at all nervous about a girl undressing behind him.

"How come you're so calm!" Link whispered harshly.

Itaav didn't respond. He seemed too drawn into his thought process, whatever it was.

After a few more moments, Zelda finally announced she was finished and came out from around the _Helmaroc_. As Link had mentioned, the clothes were still a little big on her, if only because they weren't meant for a girl. The tunic was baggy on her, hiding her shape completely; and the pants hid her legs just as well as the tunic hid her torso. If not for the long hair, one might mistake her for a gangly young boy in that outfit.

She didn't ask "how do I look?" or anything like that, but rather self-consciously tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, avoiding eye contact with either boy. Not necessarily because she was unused to wearing things along these lines – she actually was. She just wasn't allowed to wear them, _especially_ in public.

"Well, princess, are you ready?" Itaav asked blandly.

"I suppose…" She said quietly.

"Then let's get you back to your comfy little tower." Said the Engineer while Link glared at him.

Zelda found herself unsure whether to think of the statement as an insult or a fact. Certainly she did live with a rather comfortable tower, but the way that Link had glared at Itaav said it may not have been a good thing. She knew that living in a big, comfy tower wasn't all that, but she didn't see how it was a bad thing either. So how could Itaav mean it as a bad thing? She was confused – which seemed to be happening a lot lately - but didn't dare ask for clarification – which also seemed to be happening a lot. She just nodded and followed the two out of the hangar.

Going from deck to deck to deck, she was surprised at how much walking and stair climbing there was to get in or out of the hangar. She was even more surprised at the sheer amount of people upon the main deck. She had seen that there were many aboard before, but before she had an entourage to walk her back to the Inner Wall, preventing anybody to even so much as rub up against her. Now she was being bumped, pushed, even shoved in some cases. She was so nervous about being separated from Link and Itaav, she found herself putting a clingy hand on the back of Link's shirt. She was beginning to think that maybe she did like the Inner Wall better, if only because it wasn't so crowded.

Meanwhile, Link found himself nearly in a panic over Zelda clinging to him. A girl had never clung to him before, unless it was Tatl pulling on his ear or trying to drag him to another place on the hull. But he pretended as if he didn't feel Zelda's tug… well, he tried to at least. The blush came back again and he was very glad that no one noticed; not that anyone would notice in a crowd of so many people.

"Where are the damned Royal Guard when you need them?" Itaav finally said irritably after a while of walking. They had retreated to a small, area miraculously devoid of people. Probably because it was right next to a tanning station and the smell drove people away. But Link and Itaav didn't let the smell bother them; they were willing to take any free space they could get. Zelda, however, was visibly grimacing.

"You'd think they would have noticed that the princess is missing!" Said Itaav unhappily.

Link merely nodded, but Zelda piped in, her voice sounding nasally since she was pinching her nostrils shut. "Actually they may not be making a fuss about it, is all. It would look bad if the princess was kidnapped from within the Inner Wall. … Nor can I claim to be the perfect princess… they might just think I've attempted run off and are searching within the Inner Wall." It was stated very matter-of-factly, something which seemed to worsen Itaav's mood.

"Then we should head towards the Inner Wall, right?" Link asked. "Since they're the Royal Guard, they probably think the Inner Wall is more worth protecting if they think princess is still there."

"That's unfair." Zelda said.

"Life is unfair," commented Itaav before saying to Link, "Yeah, that seems like our best b-"

"Ugh, you keep foul company, _princess_."

Zelda froze. That voice with the same over exaggeration of her title. Evidently, Link and Itaav had heard it too. Link looked around quickly, but Itaav shook his friend's shoulder and then weakly pointed upward.

"You…" Zelda barely managed to say as he looked up at the floating little demon.

Cole gave them all a toothy grin, "Yes, me." He said maliciously. "I thought I would never find you, but then again I never expected you to be around such lowly peasants."

"I guess this is the guy who's chasing you?" Itaav asked shakily.

The girl just nodded.

"We need to get away…" Link mumbled. "Itaav-"

"Shut up and just do it," hissed the paler of the boys.

Zelda had no idea what they were talking about, but did not acknowledge the conversation. They obviously had some sort of idea, and she did not want Cole to get wind of it.

"I'll leave you two pack mules alone if you just hand over the girl," Cole said. "That would be the easiest route, I assure you."

"But that takes the fun out of everything," Itaav said, not completely as confidently as he wanted. "Then again, you don't exactly look like the fun type. You're more along the lines of the creepy and annoying type."

Cole gave the boy a rather flat look. "Quite the mouth on you, there. You do know you're treading on thin ice."

"Yeah, but you know what they say…" Itaav said, seeming to have regained full snark.

"Oh? And what do they say? Indulge me, brat."

The Engineer smirked and had a look of triumph upon his face. "It's always the quiet ones."

Cole's brow furrowed at first, but he quickly got the meaning of it. He had been so focused on that one bright with the mouth he hadn't paid attention to the other one, the 'quiet' one. Unfortunately for the demon, the only reason he caught that so quickly was because the other boy had thrown a discarded tarp right at him. Catching him before he could get out of its way, he flailed and struggled with the annoying fabric.

And the three teenagers below wasted no time in getting out of there as fast as possible.

"He'll catch us in the crowd!" Zelda said as they were about to return to the fray. "Or more accurately, he only wants me."

Link said to Itaav, "We can't risk getting separated from her."

Again, Itaav was sorely tempted to just leave the princess and get her out of his hair, but he knew both he and Link were in too deep now. The demon had seen them…

"We can't go anywhere else, we have no choi-"

"No, Itaav…" Link said, "There's one other place we can go to."

If possible, the already pale Itaav became a few shades whiter. In fact, he almost seemed to get downright clammy. "No," he started shaking his head. "No, no, I am not going down there."

"Down where?" Zelda asked, feeling extremely out of the loop.

But Link, despite not wanting to, ignored her. At the moment, the Engineer seemed to need more help than her. He looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown. "Itaav," he grabbed his friend by the shoulders. "Itaav, snap out of it. We just need to get to the hangar. That's all."

"I don't want to… not through there…" Said Itaav tensely.

"We don't have time for this!" Link snarled, shaking his friend roughly. "You're the only one of us who knows the blueprints of this ship – inside and out! Just this once, you'll never have to again!"

Itaav stared at Link much like a scared child, but after a moment, he nodded. "Fine… fine… come on, let's go… before he sees us…"

"But where are we going?" Zelda asked, not sure she wanted to enter a place that had put Itaav so on edge.

"Where the Below Deck Engineers work," Link said quickly, gently pulling Zelda by the arm to follow Itaav.

Zelda still wasn't quite sure what that was, but did not ask anymore.

Meanwhile, Cole had managed to finally throw the tarp off of himself. Flying over to the only logical place those stupid teenagers could hide, he looked amongst the crowd, not caring if anyone saw him at that point. The only problem was that he was looking for three light haired young people. And there were plenty of light haired young people upon this blasted ship, especially in crowds. But he had managed to catch the slightest glimpse of a pale shade of purple, and he had certainly never seen that hair color on anyone but the mouthy kid. But by the time he flew over to where he had seen it, he could not find them.

He had lost the princess. Again.

Despite managing to keep his composure for so long, he finally let the fear and uneasiness out. His head sunk into his shoulders and he shuddered. His king… his king had already been waiting for so long and…

"Mommy! Look, a horned, flying man!"

Oh… well, he should probably get out of sight…


	9. Prophecy of the Witches

Holy crap, I updated. D: It';s either a miracle or a sign of the Apocalypse! In all seriousness, I am sorry I haven't updated often. Lots of craziness going on in my life right now, including but not limited to moving houses and college work. D: To make things worse, I had written a _fantastic _chapter. I saved it onto my USB. Guess who lost her USB today? ALL MY HATE. DX So I had to rewrite over half of this chapter, and I am not pleased with the rewrite. -w-

**Midna Hytwilian:** Itaav would like me to relay to you that he is not a child and does not like being treated as such... but he does want that cookie. -w-

**SubZeroChimera:** So true...

**Fleets: **I also agree about reviews. But I've found that when I ask, I tend not to get reviews. D: Anyways, Itaav and Cole both have some pretty bad luck. But you''re right, Itaav's is far worse... and it's probably not going to be getting any better as the story progresses. -w-

Anyways, just as a side note, I thought you should all know. This isn't really an AU of Wind Waker, per se. It's more like some combination in between WW/PH and Spirit Tracks,because Cole and Malladus are involved, whereas they had nothing to do with WW or PH. Does that mean we'll being some more charries from ST? Maybe... but I'll tell you what, I'm going to do my damn best to make sure Byrne gets a cameo, _at least_. Because he was the best character in that whole damned game and I love him to bits.

* * *

"Our girls haven't come back, hun." Said Nabooru carefully, intently gazing at her husband from across the captain's cabin. Despite her careful tone, he still managed to flinch a bit. Despite all of their optimism, that wasn't enough to save the lives of the girls they'd sent out. But everyone and their mother on the _Naga_ knew that already. Nabooru was stating the obvious to get to her main point. "We were counting on them for the princess-"

"I know," Ganondorf responded somewhat irritably. But not out of anger. Out of worry. He wasn't like his past ancestors of the same name. When things went wonky, he found thinking things through, rather than lashing out in raw fury, tended to work better. Unfortunately, worry didn't keep a clear head. He growled something foul under his breath before mumbling, "I don't want to talk to them…"

"I don't think there's much of a choice," Nabooru told him. "Their predictions are… well, hun, they're kind of vague. If it weren't for the fact they tend to always come true, I'd think theyu were just crazy old biddies."

Ganondorf grimaced. "They _are_ crazy, old biddies. That's probably what makes their predictions so accurate," though he wasn't about to go into his reasoning why he thought that was the case. "But I have no idea what to do."

"Go on the offensive," offered his wife. "We go in and raid the ship again, this time getting the princess."

He shook his head. "No, it's too soon. They'll be prepared… _he'll_ be prepared. He probably already knows what we're up to by trying to take the princess."

This time, the woman frowned. She'd nearly forgotten about him; the demon who called himself Cole. The man may have looked ridiculous - even with his demonic presence unhidden - but the Gerudo knew firsthand what he was capable of. It was rather a silly thing to get forgetful about, seeing as he was probably the reason their girls hadn't returned. Still, she wasn't terribly fond of going to the witches for advice on what to do next, either. Like she said earlier, they probably didn't have much choice…but if they did, Koume and Kotake would be a last resort.

The man rose reluctantly from his desk before letting out a sigh. Looking at his wife by the door, he said tiredly, "I'm going to pay them a visit."

Nabooru held her hands up. "You have fun, hun; I'm not going down there. Stinks to high heaven." She said, heading out the door.

_She doesn't have to remind me,_ he thought near bitterly. The only reason he wasn't smelling the thick incense of the witches' lair was due to warding spells and several layers of ship. And he was about to descend those several layers and pass all those barriers. Oh joy.

His feet dragged over to the bare corner of the cabin and he let out another sigh. He kicked the corner with his heel and a trap door raised from the floor boards. Flipping it open with the tipoff his boot, he frowned and then began his way down the trapdoor. The ladder led down to small room, big enough only for a door that led to a stair case. Ganondorf put his hand on the handle, bracing himself for the rush of incense that would assault his nose as soon as he pushed it open.

He pushed it open, and despite his bracing himself for it, he nearly gagged. The incense itself wasn't that bad, the fact that there was so much was the killer. He could already feel a headache coming on as he descended the stairs… a headache which would no doubt get worse right after he spoke with the witches.

A few flights of stairs later and he came to another door. This was the last door, and it was fairly obvious that it was. It was big, with rune covered posts and incense smoke pouring out from the crack beneath it. He knocked on the door, not that he really needed to, and entered.

He couldn't see much of the room itself. The incense also served as a sort of thick fog. He could barely make out the silhouette of a table with other things producing more smokes and fogs, but he could never see whether they came from cauldrons or beakers or what.

"Oooooooh, if it isn't our little Ganny~" came a voice from the misty room.

He let his ears follow the voice and he was able to make out a bluish silhouette. Kotake, then.

"Little Ganny? Here? Oh, but it's been too short a time – he _never_ comes down here." Said similar voice from the other side of the room, Koume.

"But he's right there, you blind ninny!"

"Ninny? If anyone's a ninny, it's you, you… you old biddy!" Koume snapped. "But you _are_ right. Ganny's there. What do you think he wants?"

"You could always ask." Ganondorf ventured, not sure if the old women would pay any attention to his words.

"Ask? No, no one needs to ask anything. We know why you're here, dearie." Kotake said from her side, though her voice was nearing.

"You're always here for the same thing." Koume added, her voice also nearing. "What would you do without us?"

He didn't want to know.

The two old ladies came into view. In their more uncontrollable days (not that they were controllable now), they would fly around the room on their brooms. It seemed now they were just content to walk around their room and be less obnoxious, apparently. It didn't do much for their appearance as grandstanding witches, however. They were terribly short, hunchbacked old ladies. Without their brooms, they looked about as intimidating as kittens… except nowhere near as cute.

"Now, now, dearie. What would you like to know?" They both asked, looking up at him with their bulbous eyes. How did they not get all teary with all this fog floating around?

"The princess… we weren't able to get her during the raid. Our girls didn't come back." He said quietly.

The two old women looked at each other before looking up at him flatly. "And we thought we raised you better." Koume mumbled.

"It doesn't take much to know they're dead." Kotake said simply.

It unnerved Ganondorf to see that they were so nonchalant about all of this. But then again, once upon a time, these two were well known for their lack of ethics.

Actually, they were still known for that.

"That's not why I'm here." He said. "We don't know where to go from here. Cole was no doubt the one who vanished our girls; he knows we've made our move. We can't get to the Princess Zelda without him noticing."

"True, true," both old ladies conceded as they paced around in circles opposite of each other. They didn't say much afterwards, just kept pacing. He remained silent, wishing he could say something but knowing that with these two, rushing wouldn't do anyone any good. Then they stopped. He perked up, hoping they would say something. But they didn't, and instead a crystal ball just manifested in between them. He had never been able to understand how they managed to get the ginormous crystal ball to just appear, but he wasn't entirely interested in finding out. After all, it only worked for them.

The two old witches peered into the ball unblinkingly. It began to glow with an ominous white light, giving the fog all around them an ethereal sort of lighting. Ganondorf braced himself for what was about to occur. The misty incense smoke began to twirl in unnatural pattern and speed; the shadows of the room seemed to grow and darken, making the shining light of the crystal ball even brighter. As if things couldn't get any eerier, sparks charged from the mist, gradually growing and booming into lightning as the witches burst out into an almost maniacal laughter.

"The skies!" Kotake cried out. "A palace in the skies!"

"And in the mainland!" Koume cried, "The mainland with spirits! Powerless yet powerful!"

"Pitted against each other! One against his memory, one against himself, one against his friends! One pitted against all!"

The two witches gasped then, their laughter abated in favor of shock. Their eyes were practically glued to the crystal, as if they were trying to zoom in on the images. They screamed, and Ganondorf stepped back while his hand went straight for the blade at his belt. But there was no danger, despite all that was occurring. "The Three shall come together!" They cried out simultaneously. "The Three shall fight together! The Three shall _fall_ together!"

Ganondorf's eyes widened in shock. "What do you mean by fall?" He demanded.

"The Demon King will rise and the Three shall fight, and the Three shall lose! The Three will _die_!" They said in unison.

And with that, the dramatics ended. The crystal ball vanished and the lightning stopped; the mist returned to normal patterning and the witches went back to their respective corners, quietly going about their business. But even amongst all the returned normalcy, Ganondorf could hear their screeches echoing within the confines of his skull.

"_The Three shall fall together!"_

He gazed at the back of his right hand. Even through the worn, thick gloves he wore, he could still see it… the faint, glowing outline of Power…

"_The Three will die!"_

This had to be an extremely bad time to be one of the Three.

* * *

"He doesn't look very good…" Zelda whispered to Link as they walked through the cramped and dark corridor. She was only able to get a glance at Itaav's expression because he turned a corner.

"He's a bit claustrophobic…" The blond boy whispered back in response.

"Stop talking about me behind my back!" Itaav snarled to the two behind him.

Both the blond heads seemed to shirk into their shoulders, now following along silently.

Zelda was still concerned for their leader, though. She had definitely seen him irritated but this… this was irritation brought upon from fear. From the witchlight he had summoned before them (a chalky purple as opposed to her chalky blue), she could see his pale complexion had gone positively clammy. He looked as if each step he took was positively strained. From the way he was moving, actually, it did look as if each step was strained.

It really was, for Itaav. It was a living nightmare for him. He hated Below Deck. He hated it with a damned passion. So closed in, dark… seemingly never ending. It was just like the place from his nightmares. He felt locked in; like everything was closing in on him. And that feeling certainly wasn't being reversed by the fact that the corridors of Below Deck were, in fact, getting narrower, smaller and even more cramped. They were in single file, now, on all fours and crawling through the ant tunnels of Below Deck.

Despite the near paralyzing dread he was feeling, Itaav attempted to focus on the ship's blueprints in his head. Trying to imagine everything as the equivalent of a map was keeping just enough of the anxiety at bay to not make it much of an issue. And the faster he led them through the confusing labyrinth, the faster they could get to the familiarity of Above Deck. Of course, that was assuming that none of the Moles had caught them down there and then promptly threw them back up Above Deck… Actually, Itaav found himself secretly wishing a Mole would find them.

Mole just happened to be the word that people had thrown onto Below Deck Engineers. It was supposedly after some sort of rodent that burrowed underground. Moles hated the name, but then again, Above Deck engineers, like Itaav, hated being called Gulls. Then again, who would want to be compared to rats with wings? Moles were a bit more ornery than Gulls, though. But if they lived like this, Itaav supposed he could understand if they got territorial. Overcrowding in the bowels of the ship couldn't have been good for anyone's health. At least above deck there was the illusion of space.

The ant tunnels in the bowels of the ship never seemed to get any wider. The boys shoulders were up against the walls, making their experience even more uncomfortable than before. Zelda was spared that due to her smaller frame, but seeing their discomfort made her more uneasy. The tight space really wasn't doing anything for her, either; especially as she thought of Cole. What if he found them in here? What if he had seen them escape below deck? Or maybe he would find them on the other side… Perhaps he knew of Itaav's hangar… And what were they even going to do when they got there? She was a bit afraid to ask.

Itaav reviewed the blueprints in head. "Almost there…" he mumbled.

Link merely nodded, not that the gesture could be seen by his paler companion.

The passages they took began to gradually widen again. Soon enough, they were all able to walk the ways rather than crawl, though Itaav did not seem any calmer. The princess and Scaler continued to follow wordlessly, silently grateful that they were now climbing ladders rather than crawling all over the place. What did surprise them was when Itaav kicked an air passageway and then crawled into the passage. Again crawling, this time around it was a little more comfortable… but only because the air passages were cool.

Luckily, there wasn't much crawling to be done. The passage led right the air vent in Itaav's hangar, and the Engineer was all too happy to push the grate off and get back to the familiarity of somewhere that wasn't Below Deck. After pushing himself out and scrambling up, he took a deep whiff of fresh, free air. He let out a sigh of relief and then rushed outside of the hangar, to open air and sunlight.

Feeling ten times better already than he had Below Deck, he closed his eyes and took in the scent of salty sea hair and the feel of his hair whipping around with the wind.

Gods, it just felt so _right_.

"Itaav, are you alright?" Link asked.

_It's always that damned pest's fault,_ said the voice in the back of Itaav's head. And Itaav had to agree with the little voice in the back of his head. This was Link's fault. If he hadn't found the princess… Argh, why couldn't Link have just left by the Inner Wall? But now wasn't the time for that kind of thinking. There was a demon on their tail and they were all involved now. It wasn't the time to point fingers. Opening his eyes and looking back at his friend, he nodded. "Yeah. What's the plan?"

"We need to take your airship out of here."

"What?" Zelda squeaked. "What do you mean, 'out of here?'"

"It sounded pretty clear to me. We're getting off of _The Pride_." Itaav said simply.

"B-but… princesses don't leave _The Pride_!" She said frantically.

"You did last night," Link pointed out gently.

She pursed her lips, wishing she could say "But that was different!" But it wasn't different. It was the same exact situation, really. And she "But I can't just leave Zev and father and- what will they think happened to me?"

Itaav and Link looked at each other, grimacing slightly. Itaav, who had been a relative jerk to Zelda this whole time, was beginning to feel some pity brew for the girl. And Link definitely didn't want Zelda panicking over that. Both realized that time was of the essence at the moment; they needed to leave whilst at the same time assuring the process that everything would somehow be alright. But the whole family thing was a bit of a fuzzy issue for them since they lacked parents and siblings.

Neither was really sure how they were supposed to calm the girl down… so Itaav said, "I'll just be getting the _Helmaroc_ ready." And so he escaped to the hangar, leaving Link to handle Zelda.

"I can't just leave…" The girl said shakily. She almost looked as if she was about to cry.

Link struggled with what to do next. Should he put a hand on her shoulder? Was that too forward? And what would he say…? He just decided not to think about it. "Listen, princess, I know you don't want people to worry, but if we don't leave right now, they'll _really_ have a reason to worry. I have no idea why that demon wants to get to you so badly, but if you stay on _The Pride_, he will catch you."

She looked up at Link and bit her lip. He was right… but still… she knew she had always longed for some srt of adventure but… but she never quite imagined really doing it. She never had the determination to do it because… well, Zev and father needed her. She couldn't just leave them to pursue her own dreams, especially when the court needed her too. That would be shirking responsibility in favor of selfish indulgence… _But if I don't leave, I won't even be able to selfishly indulge in anything._ She thought to herself. Still nearly in tears, she nodded.

Itaav had pushed the airship out of the hangar. "Come on; don't know if that guy knows we're here, but we should probably get out of here as fast as we can." He said.

"Where are we going to go…?" Zelda asked quietly.

Link just stood and blinked for a moment. He'd never given that part any thought. But it seemed he didn't have to. The Engineer answered for him, "The Palace of the Winds, obviously."

Zelda frowned. "No one's ever been there. At least not in our time."

The pale boy smirked. "The _Helmaroc_ was made to get there."

"We'll have to go the mainland first." Link added. "We're not exactly prepared for a journey _anywhere_."

Rolling his eyes, Itaav said, "You guys are so needy. Food, water… next you'll be asking for _bathroom breaks_."

"I don't think it's so much to ask…" Zelda mumbled.

The Engineer and the Scaler looked at each other, not sure whether it was worth it to explain the concept of sarcasm to the girl. Deciding not to, Itaav went ahead and said, "Link, there's an extra pair of goggles in the toolbox."

The blond boy nodded and went back into the hangar, while the other boy entered the _Helmaroc_ and took his place on the pilot's seat. Zelda followed, if not a bit hesitantly.

"Princess, listen up," Itaav began. "The wind isn't strong enough to let my baby take off on its own, so I'm going to give her a nudge. Just hang on tight or you might fly off."

_Hang on to what?_ Thought the girl, but she decided it was better not to ask. The fact that Itaav seemed like he didn't want to bite her head off was nice, and she'd rather not change that tune. Link returned shortly, handing the extra goggles to Zelda. After a few troublesome moments, she managed to get them affixed over her eyes.

Link stepped up to his purple haired friend and whispered, "Are all the kinks ironed out?"

"All she's missing is a cool paintjob." Itaav assured.

Link nodded and stepped back, taking firm hold of the rim of the cockpit. Zelda followed suit, though not quite with the same expression of sickly dread that Link had.

"Thank you all for flying _Air Helmaroc_. It's a pleasantly windy day with partly cloudy skies. Our destination today is the Continent; estimated time of arrival is… whenever we get there. So without further ado…" He took a deep breath and exhaled, preparing the spell in his mind. "Here we go."

The ship lurched and Zelda squeaked. At first, Link had thought she had just been surprised by the sudden movement. But upon seeing the direction her gaze was looking at, he managed an, "Itaav…"

"Trying to concentrate," said the Engineer somewhat irritated.

"Well concentrate harder or faster because we've got company."

"Hah! I managed to find you brats!" Cole announced in triumph. He was by the mast the hangar was located near; higher than them, but way too close for comfort.

For a moment, the sound of the demon's voice almost had Itaav's concentration break. But he didn't let it, and hastily scrambled together a new combination of spells in his mind before putting them to use. The _Helmaroc_ lurched again, this time faster than before.

"You really think you could get away in _that_?" Cole chided as he flew closer to them from above. "I'll catch you yet, _princess_!" He held a hand out in front of him, glowing blue rings appearing around his wrist before launching off and expanding in size.

"Itaav-"

"I know!" He snapped at Link. He could sense the magic, which mean he had to beef up his own even more. Already feeling a massive headache coming on, he let out one last burst of magic. A near hurricane force gust of wind had the _Helmaroc_ skittering on its wheels and lifting just before the takeoff dive. It was fast enough for one of the rings to miss, but another was following them. Unfortunately, the wind that Itaav had summoned did have a repercussion. His precious airship was harder to control, and given the pressure he was under…

Itaav shuddered, though, when he felt another tinge of magic. But it wasn't his own magic he felt, nor was it Cole's. This was… it was an eerily pure kind of magic. And given Zelda's mumbling of some language he wasn't willing to identify at the moment, he was willing to bet it was her.

And it was. With the next ring of magic coming straight for her, she needed to do something. If she got caught, who knew what chaos the magic may cause to the airship and the other two inside of it? Mumbling the words as fast as she could, trying to get the necessary power infused with them, the ring came upon them. But she had finished her spell right on time. The fluorescent blue ring came and zapped out of existence upon coming into contact with the barrier she managed to construct. Unfortunately, the barrier wouldn't do diddly if the airship kept heading down towards the ocean.

Itaav was already doing his best to pull up on the controls, twisting the wings of the Helmaroc in an attempt to have them glide upwards. He managed another burst of magic on his part, just as Cole sent another nasty pair of blue rings towards them. Itaav's ended up being faster. The Helmaroc shot up, hastily and hard to control yet again, but too fast for the blue rings to change course. Itaav unleashed another spell, and yet another strong wind came, this time one that sent them gliding quickly away from _The Pride_… and from Cole.

The little demon simply looked on with a mixture of despair and anger as the airship and the princess he was sent to capture flew away – out towards the sea. He made to follow, but he quickly stopped and looked at the ocean. He couldn't fly that. Too much open water… "Dammit!" He shouted angrily, stomping his stubby feet in the air. "Daaaaaaamiiiiiiiiit!"

But he wasn't the only one damning his luck. On the _Helmaroc_, the three teenagers were silent. Itaav was focused on trying to get the airship back in his control, while Link and Zelda simply watched themselves get farther and farther from the Continent and _The Pride_. They knew they couldn't change course. The only reason Cole wasn't following them was because of the increasing size of the ocean between them. How long they would last without food or water was on all of their minds.


	10. Residents in the Ruins

An update! yay! Sorry it took so long. I had a huge block. You can thank nyan cat for this update. Yes, you read right. Nyan cat. That internet meme was what got my writing juices flowing again. And boy is it great to be writing again! First thing's first, **Forgotten Legends is on an update schedule again. However, this story is not.** Forgotten Legends has priority over this one, though **you can generally count on an update for this story following Forgotten Legends. In other words, probably around every two weeks, give or take.** Just know that nothing is set in stone. I do have a life outside of this, and it doesn't seem to be getting any easier. -w-

**fleets**, haha sort of. We'll see more of them, don't worry. XD But yeah, he makes his previous incarnations roll in their graves with disappointment. And Twinrova's prediction... hehe, I'm not saying anything... mostly because even I have the vaguest ideas of where I'm going. Well, sort of. I do know what I meant when I wrote that. Mwahahaha. As for who will whine first... well, I won't get into that since you'll be reading it. XD Hopefully the next update won't take a long time! DX

**shadowreploid**, well no worries about the USB. I gotta better one now! ... Sort of. I just wish I still had the other one. -sob- ANYWAYS, thank you for reading. Hope I didn't make you wait too long. DX

**Midna Hytwilian**, again, Itaav still is Vaati. -w-

So yeah, this chapter is pretty unchecked for mistakes. There are bound to be more than previous chapters, so sorry in advance. It's 3 AM, I am sleepy and have to wake up early tomorrow, and I didn't want you all to wait. Because if I didn't upload this now, it probably wasn't going to get uploaded until Monday. I'll see about fixing any of the more obvious mistakes then. Until then, adieu and enjoy.

* * *

"Will he be alright?"

"Itaav? Yeah; he just needs to sleep this off."

"Will we be alright?"

That was a question Link wasn't sure how to answer. "I don't know…"

Link had no idea where they were; he wasn't even sure Itaav knew where they were. The _Helmaroc_ kept flying until _the Pride_ was out of sight, and even then they were forced to land on a strange island because Itaav was having trouble focusing. They were all nervous wrecks, there was no doubt about it. The creepy atmosphere of the strange island they were on wasn't helping either.

It wasn't a particularly large island, but then again, seeing as how there was only one known continent, most islands weren't that big. What made this small island so exceedingly unnerving, however, was that it was filled with ruins. Link wasn't even sure how they could possibly be there. He wasn't familiar with geography before the Flood, but he was pretty sure there shouldn't be ruins on what were essentially former mountaintops. But he was also assuming they had been sailing over ancient Hyrule, which they might not have given the fact that they had been on the Continent just the day before. "I wonder what these are…" He thought out loud.

"Mother used to tell me that the gods brought them from the ocean, so we wouldn't forget where we came from." Zelda answered wistfully. "Mother always told nice stories…"

Mother… her mother was the late queen. Link didn't know much about the royal family, but he'd always heard the queen often thought of herself as high and mighty. But she _was_ a queen. High and mighty or not, though, she obviously seemed to make the time for her daughter. That must have been nice, having memories of a mother. Link couldn't remember much of his mother… or his father for that matter. And Itaav… Link didn't know. His friend always seemed to get deathly quiet when speaking of his mother. Come to think of it, Link wasn't sure he had ever heard Itaav speak of her. But they were orphans… it probably wasn't something nice to think about.

"I'm sorry, did I say something offensive?" Zelda asked worriedly.

"No!" Link said quickly. "No, you didn't. I just got caught up in my thoughts, is all." He hoped he sounded reassuring enough. They were both out of their element on this island and he didn't want to worry her. There was already enough to worry about…

Neither said anything, not finding any words to say. Any conversation they had would seemed forced right now – even the socially awkward Zelda knew that. They just sat against Itaav's airship, listening to the waves lapping against the beach and the seagulls squawking overhead, grateful for the shade that the _Helmaroc_ offered from the harsh sun.

It was so peaceful and quiet here… So they were both very alarmed when they heard a smashing sound nearby. They froze, just staring at each other in utter confusion. Just as they were about to relax again, the smashing sound happened again.

"… said construction was over…" Itaav grumbled from his pilot's seat in his sleep.

It seemed in his dreams, he still thought they were on _the Pride_… At the moment, Link was kind of wishing they were… up until he remembered the crazy ginger demon that was after them. To top it off, the sound could be something else looking for them. Again came the smashing sound. Silently, Link and Zelda both seemed to agree that staying still and not moving was probably the best way to avoid the smashing sound. Itaav, however, seemed to disagree.

"Goddess dammit; I'm trying to sleep here!" He shouted as he shot up from his seat. Upon seeing that he was not in his room or his hangar, though, he became just as confused as Link and Zelda… And speaking of them, where were they?

"Psst, Itaav, down here!" Link whispered harshly.

The Engineer looked down over the _Helmaroc_'s edge and frowned. "What's up with you two? And what that's noise?"

"We don't know! Now shut up!" Link hissed.

Itaav just stared at Link blankly, up until the smashing sound came again. Then he looked towards the direction of the smashing sound. "Well, you two can keep huddling up like frightened Gorons – I'm investigating." And with that, he hopped out of the airship and ran off towards the noise.

"Itaav!" Link cried out in a hoarse whisper. Of all the times for his friend to get curious like this! Did he forget that a demon was looking for Zelda? For all three of them?

"Oh dear…" Zelda whispered worriedly, twiddling her thumbs. "Perhaps we should… follow him?"

"I don't know…" Link mumbled out loud. The way he was seeing things, if Itaav got killed for investigating, he kind of deserved it. At the same time, the Engineer was technically his friend and… well, he was the only one who could fly his stupid contraption. "Yeah, we gotta make sure he doesn't get himself killed." He really wished he had his machete…

They both got up and headed off in Itaav's general direction.

"That big sound hasn't happened again…" Zelda mentioned.

Link had noticed that too, but he wasn't sure whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. But they found the answer soon enough as they caught sight of Itaav in a clearing… And he was chatting away with perhaps the most terrifying man that Link or Zelda had ever seen. And for Link, that was saying something; you saw some pretty terrifying looking people in the Outer Wall of _the Pride_.

The man was tall and burly, and even though he wore a bandana over the lower half of his face, he looked very intimidating. Perhaps the scariest thing about the man was the enormous clawed gauntlet on his left hand. Yet Itaav seemed to be animatedly chatting away with him. Link did notice that his friend's gaze was primarily on the man's gauntlet, which probably meant it was some sort of interesting contraption he'd like to fiddle with.

"Itaav and he seem to be getting on well." The princess commented.

"I don't know about that… wait, Princess, where are you going?" Link exclaimed as the princess went ahead towards Itaav and the stranger. But she didn't seem to hear him and continued onwards. He grimaced, but followed suit, hoping that he wasn't making a huge mistake.

The scary looking fellow was first to notice the two, facing them with surprising speed and pointing the gauntlet right at them. Itaav quickly grabbed the man's arm and attempted to push it down; it didn't work but Itaav also shouted, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, big guy, they're with me!" Apparently, that was enough to get the man to lower the gauntlet.

Zelda cheerily came up to the man and curtsied, "Hello, sir, my name is Princess Zelda Olivier of House Harkinian. It's very nice to meet you." She then linked arms with Link and said, "And this is my friend Link!" A statement which made the blond boy blush.

The man just looked down at the girl blankly and mumbled awkwardly, "Um… Byrne. Just Byrne."

"Just Byrne? That's a strange na-"

"Uh, yeah, Princess, don't worry too much about it." Itaav said quickly. She never ceased to amaze him with her social awkwardness. "Anyways, the big guy here was the one making that noise. Go ahead, show'em Byrne."

With a shrug, the man turned until he was staring at a good sized rock. He held out his gauntleted hand and –_ smash!_ The gauntlet launched and crumbled the rock as if it had been of paper. As if it that wasn't enough, it began to reel itself back into the man's hand.

"Isn't that awesome?" Itaav said excitedly. "I was just asking him about the mechanics when you guys came along. He says he made it himself!"

Zelda clasped her hands together and smiled brightly. "That's amazing!"

Link just looked at the two blankly. He'd never understand the fascination they seemed to have with these weird gadgets. Plus, he had a better question on his mind, "That's great but… Byrne, where did you come from? Do you live here or something, because I didn't see any houses here when we landed."

It was only then that Zelda and Itaav realized that Link had a good point. Their curiosity over his strange gauntlet faded for the moment, and they stayed quiet waiting for an answer. The man called Byrne simply attended to the gauntlet on his hand, remaining quiet. The three could only guess that he was thinking over whether he should answer or not. He finally took his gaze from his gauntlet and looked at the three teenagers. His sharp eyes looked them over, though they did tend to linger more on Link and Zelda. He finally said, "Follow me."

With that, he turned around and began to walk up a rocky hill. Zelda followed closely and cheerily, but Itaav cried out, "But my ship?"

"Don't worry; it's safe." Byrne assured from up ahead.

While Itaav wasn't entirely sure about it, he hesitantly followed.

Link on the other hand was flabbergasted. He followed, but if only because the other two were and he had nowhere else to go. Still, back on _the Pride_, Itaav had been lecturing _him_ about responsibility! And now they were following a complete stranger – and a diabolical looking one to boot – to who knows where on a strange island? The way Link saw it, they were asking to be murdered… but at the same time, Link could see why following the guy might not be a bad idea. They had no food or water, and the _Helmaroc_ could barely count as a shelter… And if this guy lived on the island, it must've meant it was more than some strange batch of ruins off the Continent.

They descended the rocky hill after Byrne, where Itaav displayed a strange amount of tolerance to the princess by offering his hand in assistance to her. Link found himself mildly jealous when the girl accepted, but he quickly became distracted when he saw Byrne was just standing in front of a stone wall. They had all caught up the man now, who was still standing in front of the wall. His eyes were closed and his right hand was held up in front of him as if he were in prayer. Eventually, they found that if they listened hard enough, they could just barely hear the man whispering something quickly and quietly. A spell of some sort?

It had to have been, because as soon as he opened his eyes and lowered his arm, a gap in the stone wall appeared and he walked on through.

All three of the teenagers were not very excited at the prospect of entering a dark tunnel. Especially Itaav. They'd had enough of that in one day… but they went and followed anyways. But the tunnel only looked dark and scary. They weren't even ten seconds in when a torch lighted the downward spiraling passage. And they weren't even two minutes in when the tunnel opened up in what seemed to be a brightly lit and homey living room. In fact, it seemed to be a whole living complex, complete with doorways into other areas.

"Master, we have guests." Byrne called out as he took off his gauntlet and placed it off to the side.

"Guests? Don't be silly, Byrne; we don't get guests here." Came a voice from another room. The owner of the voice came from a room on the left; she was a short, old woman with a strange swirly updo on what seemed to be some sort of weird automatic scooter. She froze when she saw that her apprentice hadn't been joking. An awkward silence filled the room as she stared at the three teens and they stared at her and her strange vehicle. "Oh… we do have guests. Unusual, but the extra company is always welcome! Make yourselves at home!" She told them cheerily. "Byrne, go get out some snacks – they look like they could use something to eat."

Zelda was the first to recover. "Thank you very much!" And with that, she skipped over and sat upon a couch.

Itaav and Link looked at each other, incredulous looks both on their faces as they both mouthed in confusion, "She _skipped_."

"Come on, you two! Don't be shy – this couch is very comfy!" Zelda called out.

Figuring that this was better than they had it outside, both went and sat on either side of Zelda. She was cheerfully swaying her legs with her hands on her knees and thumbs twiddling. Itaav kept his gaze on the old woman who was driving up across them. He was really interested in her little scooter – he almost wished he could take it apart. Link was also watching the woman, but for another reason entirely. With Itaav's mind for gadgets taking over his rational mind, it was Link's turn to play the suspicious skeptic. What were two people doing living in the bottom of a deserted island filled with nothing but ruins? Not to mention the fact they had strange devices like launching gauntlets and automatic scooters.

"Well, it's not often we get visitors. I really thought Byrne might've been going nuts when he said there were guests." The woman said brightly. "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Anjean. And I knew _your_ grandmother, Princess." She pointed right at Zelda.

Zelda pointed at herself, as if making sure that Anjean had been talking to her despite the fact that she was the only princess there. "_You_ knew Grandma Zelda Tetra?"

The old woman winked and nodded. "I sure did – and you're the spitting image of her! Well, a more sheltered image, but her nonetheless!"

"Wait a second!" It seemed Itaav's suspicious mind returned. "How could you have possibly known a former monarch of _the Pride_? The girls of the noble families never leave _the Pride_, ruling monarch or not. How would you even know that this girl's a princess? You have to admit, she doesn't look like one right now."

Link's was still working too. He glanced over at his friend questioningly. He knew Itaav was of higher rank on _the Pride_, being an Engineer… and Zelda had said that "princesses never leave _the Pride_"… but she'd never been specific enough to say that noble girls never left the ship. In fact, the people on the Outer Wall didn't know diddly about any of the affairs behind the Inner Wall. People knew they had a king and whatnot, but that was about it. When important messages came from the Inner Wall to the Outer, it was usually in bulletin form. It was completely different worlds depending on what Wall you were behind… so how did Itaav know something like that?

But Zelda surprised both of them by answering, "Oh Grandma Zelda Tetra wasn't one for conformity. She had a double that took care of the affairs of _the Pride_ while she went and explored the Great Sea – eventually finding the Continent. She returned and then guided _the Pride_ to the Continent. I'm sure she didn't wear dressing gowns while adventuring. But it's never happened since – a princess leaving _the Pride_, I mean." She then looked back to Anjean and said with a big grin, "So you met my grandma while she was adventuring?"

Byrne had returned then with what looked like a basket of bread. "We don't have much." He said not-quite-apologetically before standing next to Anjean.

"Thank you," Anjean said to her apprentice kindly. She looked to the three teenagers and said, "Help yourselves. I'm sorry we don't have much more, but I'll scrounge something up in a bit." Itaav was the first to grab a slice of bread and practically devour it. But after using all that magic earlier to keep the _Helmaroc_ from spinning out of control, it didn't come as a surprise even to Link. "Anyways, yes, Missy, I _did_ meet your grandmother during her adventuring days. She was like a firecracker that one… and more help than you can imagine in those dark times…" Anjean caught herself then and then rolled her wrist, as if she was dismissing that line of thought. "But never mind that. What on earth are you doing here? That pale boy does have a point; you royals don't often leave _the Pride_ – especially after your grandmother."

Zelda's happy face dropped; Link tried to focus on a pictograph he couldn't quite make out on one of the walls; and Itaav just stopped eating his piece of bread halfway.

"Nothing good then…" the old woman said with a sigh. She looked over the three, all of them making an awful big effort not to look at her. "Well… I can see you all have had a rough time of it. No need to tell me… not now, at least. Just know that you're perfectly safe here."

"Alright, first question," Itaav said in his skeptic fashion, "What makes you think we're so safe here?"

Anjean's smile reappeared and she winked again. "These ruins are more than they appear young man. Once upon a time they kept a very strong force of evil at bay until it was banished to the far reaches of the Great Sea. So if anything bad is looking for you, it can't find you here. Truthfully, I'm rather amazed that even you three were able to find this place…" She paused, then looked up at Byrne. "How did they even get here?"

Byrne tilted his head toward Itaav. "He built an airship and flew it over here. I haven't seen it myself, but it makes sense."

The old woman had a look of astonishment on her face. "Really now…" She looked right at the pale boy and asked, "Young man, what's your name?"

The Engineer frowned, "Itaav Sallas. Don't see how my name matters much…"

Anjean's face seemed to darken for a split second before smiling cheerily and saying, "Well, that explains it then." Before Itaav could ask how on earth his name could explain anything, Anjean looked over to Link and said, "Now you haven't been very talkative. What's your name, young man?"

"Link Dollet." Said the blond boy a bit blankly.

"Link, eh? Come to think of it, I may have known one of your ancestors too." She said cheerily.

"Wha-" Was all Link managed from that.

The old woman smiled and nodded, "Haha, you two even have the same confused expression! It could just be coincidence, though… yet at the same time, maybe not. Your look-alike sailed with Zelda Tetra those many years ago. I suppose that's why Byrne was so trusting of you two."

All three of them gaped at that statement before gaping at the big man.

"B-but… that had to have been nearly a hundred years ago!" Zelda gawked.

Byrne seemed to shift uncomfortably where he stood, but he didn't say anything. Anjean merely chuckled, though, and said, "That's a story for another time. For now, I think all three of you need to rest."

Despite their heads being filled with many questions, they couldn't have agreed more.

* * *

The afternoon had been quiet. Anjean had been kind of enough to offer them the two spare rooms in her little underground complex. Zelda got her own room and the two boys shared, but for the most part, the three spent their time in the spacious living room and taking in the hospitality of the master and her apprentice. There were questions, of course, like what were they a master and apprentice of; how old were they exactly; what was this place supposed to be… but Anjean seemed very adamant on not answering any of those questions until the next day. And just so the temptation wasn't there, Anjean and Byrne seemed to go about their normal business as if the three weren't there.

Zelda ended up retreating to her room first for some sleep, saying, "I really do feel safe here. I don't think Anjean lied about this being a special place."

"This place is weird, Itaav." Link said as soon as he was sure he and his friend were relatively alone.

"You don't need to tell me twice… But this whole situation is weird." Itaav sounded absolutely exasperated, and from the way he was leaning back on the couch, one might've thought he was trying to blend into it. And Link couldn't blame him. This was definitely the weirdest situation he had ever been in. He ended up mimicking Itaav's attempt to sink into the couch. With any luck, they might succeed.

There was some silence, with both boys absorbed in their own thoughts. Eventually, Link said, "You know Itaav… I'll be honest. I wanted off _the Pride_ too."

Itaav tilted his head ever so slightly to get a glimpse of his friend. "Really?"

"Yeah… but you can have your funky Palace. I was just hoping to save up enough money to get a place on the mainland – maybe I could get a job as a gardener or something. I mean, I already kill weeds with a machete all the time… It probably sounds boring, but to me it sounded like an adventure." Link confessed, staring up at the ceiling.

The Engineer stared up at the ceiling again as well. "Yeah, well… right about now, I'd take boring over this."

"Seconded."

There was silence again. Link finally sat up. "I think I'm gonna hit the hay too. You probably should soon too. You've done more than me or Zelda and you didn't sleep for long earlier."

"I guess so," Itaav said, slowly sitting up himself. Then he stood, "I'm going to check on the _Helmaroc_ first."

Getting up, Link rolled his eyes. "I'm sure it's fine, but whatever. I'm not complaining, it means I get the bed." And with that, he headed off to their appointed room.

Itaav walked over to the tunnel and went through. Just like when they had first entered, getting out didn't take long at all. Evidently, they'd been underground for a while. It was dark out, though he couldn't tell what time exactly. It was a new moon out, so the sky was pitch black even with stars. Clouds were also rolling in – it would probably rain later in the night. Summoning up his normal purplish witchlight, he tried to backtrack to where the airship was. But he kept on getting side-tracked. The ruins in this place were interesting. He was sure that they didn't belong to ancient Hyrule, not that he would know. He'd never seen any ruins from there to tell him otherwise. But still, from a geographical point of view, these couldn't have been from ancient Hyrule. They were too close to the mainland.

He kept walking until he found what seemed to be part of a dilapidated old tower. Itaav raised his light a bit to see that it had probably once been very tall and probably even wider. He wouldn't be surprised if all the ruins on this island were parts of the tower… even more parts were probably under the sea… Once upon a time, this island had to have been much larger…

Thunder boomed overhead.

_I need to find the _Helmaroc_._

He went back to business, feeling for his own magic on this island. As he did so, he nearly felt as if he was punched in the face. He knew where his airship was now, but he also now understood why Zelda had said she didn't think Anjean had been lying about this place. There was sacred magic at work here… enough to make him feel almost uncomfortable, though he hadn't a clue why. He was willing to bet that the tower that had once stood here had to have been of great importance… But that wasn't important now. Not compared to the plight of his airship potentially getting rained on.

Finding the _Helmaroc_, he was happy to see that Byrne was right when he said it would be safe. Evidently, Itaav had landed it perfectly in a place where the changing tides couldn't even reach it. That was a huge stroke of luck on his part. When he landed, he hadn't even thought about that… He went ahead and put water-proofing spells on it anyways, as well as a buffer spell to keep the salty air at bay. Too much salt could damage the foundations… And to be safer, he put a cloaking spell on it too. Sacred magic or not, he wasn't entirely sure what or would not be kept at bay and he did not want the _Helmaroc_ getting damaged or stolen.

Thunder threatened even louder and closer now. With a grimace and a very hesitant goodbye to his ship, he went back to the wall where the entrance to the tunnel was. He'd forgotten that Byrne had used a spell to open it before. If he weren't a magical genius, that may have been a problem. Luckily, he was. He studied the magic on that wall and managed to open it. It caused him a little trouble at first, but he managed to get it before the rain came.

Itaav's steps felt very heavy as he walked through the tunnel. Link was right, he really hadn't slept much earlier…

He yawned, heading to the room that he and his friend were sharing. On the way, he passed Zelda's room. The door was closed, which was only to be expected. A royal girl needed her privacy… Maybe it was the fatigue talking, but she wasn't as bad as he'd first thought. A bit clueless about the outside world, but who could blame her? She was raised in the Inner Wall… and the Inner Wall was a different world. He would know, having spent two years in there before getting kicked to the orphan barracks.

Another yawn creeped up on him as he passed another room. The door was creaked open ever so slightly, a sliver of light falling across the hall he'd been walking through. He could hear voices… Anjean and Byrne were talking, he thought. He felt his ear twitch when he heard his name.

"Itaav… name…"

He got a little closer to the barely open door.

"Do you think it's a coincidence, Master?" It was Byrne.

"Probably not… knowing that boy's mother, she probably chose the name on purpose." Anjean had said, almost sounding kind of bitter.

Wait… his mother? That woke him up a bit more. What did Anjean know of his mother? Had they met?

She resumed, "But that isn't important right now-"

_Like hell it isn't!_

"I think the fact that _the Pride_'s princess is here is a bigger problem… In all likelihood it means…"

There was silence. Itaav considered leaving, as they weren't talking about his mother anymore… but at the same time, they seemed to know a lot of what was going on with their little… adventure? That was one way of putting it, the Magic Engineer supposed.

"Byrne, will you be okay?" Anjean asked. Her voice sounded grave.

"Master?"

"The last time… the last time you had lost your way. Will you be fine this time around?"

There was silence again. What were they talking about? He kind of wished he could peek in, but if he did he'd get caught. And he had a feeling this was a conversation he wasn't welcome to hear.

"… Yes. He holds no temptation for me now." Byrne finally said.

"I hope so, Byrne," Anjean said tiredly. "He's a vile creature-"

_"Oh! What a vile form you have taken!"_

Itaav stumbled. That voice! There was a voice in his head and… and a picture… like a memory but… what… what was… What the hell was that? Whatever it was, his heart was pumping fast – as if he'd just seen something like a ghost…

"Itaav?" Anjean asked. "Itaav, are you feeling well?"

The Engineer noticed that he was on all fours, which pretty much put him at the same level as Anjean. He found himself staring blankly at the woman. "Sorry… just… just tired." He managed.

"What were you doing?" Byrne asked. Itaav could hear the suspicion in the intimidating man's voice.

"I just came back from outside… I wanted to check on my airship… It looked like a storm was coming so I put some proofing spells on it. I think I pushed myself a bit after today, though…" He said, still sounding quite blank. Really, what was that thing from before? What had happened? "Sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"No," Anjean said gently. "No, you didn't. Go on to the room and get some sleep now."

Itaav nodded and picked himself up. He supposed he was lucky not have been caught eavesdropping, though he was sure Byrne was on to him… but he didn't care. He was too preoccupied with that strange… whatever it was. It was like an old man… a weird looking old man… He seemed familiar but… Itaav had never seen an old man that looked so strange… And he had been saying he had a vile form… had he been talking to him?

_You're going crazy, Itaav._ He told himself as he entered the room. _You're just really tired._ He was half-tempted to kick Link off of the bed, but that would've involved way too much work. His fatigue had come back now… So he just made himself at home in the corner of the room. The moment he closed his eyes, he was out.

* * *

In which we find out a bit more about Itaav's early childhood. And in which I introduce Byrne and Anjean earlier than I thought I would. Not that that's a bad thing. I just didn't think Spirit Tracks would be having this much of an influence on the story. I can now safely say that this is an AU of Spirit Tracks. But don't worry, you don't need to have played the game to understand the story. The only thing ST and this story will have in common are characters and just a touch of storyline - which I will have to get into later.

On a completely different note... I want Byrne's babies. I don't care if he's absolutely terrifying, I want them. :B ... Does this mean I'm cheating on Vaati? D:


	11. Decision of the Selfish

FFFFFFFF DID THIS TAKE FOREVER OR WHAT? I am so sorry it did, for that matter. This chapter gave me no end of trouble. I've been working on it for a _month_. I think that's the longest I've ever worked on a chapter. I normally blow through these things in one sitting, but not this one. OH NO, not this one. And I'm still rather iffy on this chapter but... but I don't hate it. Its just... meh. I'm just glad I was able to finish it.

**fleets**,yup, Itaav's mother. We get into her a little in this chapter but it's not the last we'll be hearing of her. :p FFFFF, but yes, Byrne was my favorite character in ST too. The game yet again proved why I shouldn't have favorite characters. D: Erm, anyways, I will always still write this. I've got a story in my head and it will be told, gorramit.

**Purplegc**, I am SOOOO glad you're enjoying this. I really am. And I'm having a blast writing it too. XD As for humor, before I started going into serious fanfics, I did a lot of humor stories. Occasionally, too much drama can just depress a person, so you need to take in some laughs from the smallest things. XD But yeah, that prophecy don't sound good, do it? Alas, I can't get into that now. That would be spoileriffic.

**SubZeroChimera**, haha, well, so far as I've planned, the real Helmaroc King probably won't be in this story. Glad you enjoyed. 8D

**Midna Hytwilian**, lulz, again, the name only stemmed from the fact that I wanted a name beginning in "Sa" but I kept thinking Salazar and then I kept thinking Salad Bar and then I thought, "Screw it, keep it to two syllables." Really, it's just a coincidence. ... It is a funny one, though. XD HERP DERP, maybe that did happen. Honestly, I'm not thinking too hard on how this alternate universe I've created worked out. I'm just stringing stuff together and making sure there aren't too many plot holes. D: At the same time, I am changing some things around... Erm, anyways, as for Itaav's mom... well, we get into her a little here, but it won't be the last we hear of her.

Derp, just a bit more to say at the bottom. Hopefully the chunkiness of this chapter will make up for at least some of the wait. D:

* * *

Link and Itaav awoke to the smell of food. Being teen aged boys who hadn't eaten a true meal for over 24 hours, they ended up following their noses before they were even half-awake. It was only when they were in the underground house's living room did they remember where they were and why... and didn't really care. They were hungry enough to eat a whale; maybe even two just so they could have their own.

They were following their noses to what they guessed was the kitchen, but before they could reach the doorway, the princess appeared with a stack of plates in her arms. "Oh! Good afternoon!" She told them cheerily.

"Afternoon?" Link managed, still not fully awake.

The girl nodded. "Yes, it's just a little past noon! I just woke up myself, honestly. But doesn't it smell good? Apparently, Mr. Byrne and Anjean managed to get a hold of some food to cook this morning!" Then, she held up the plates and said proudly, "And _I'm_ helping by setting the table."

Itaav nearly said something very damaging, but Link shoved an elbow into his ribcage before he could say it. Apparently, the blond boy was more awake and alert than Itaav was. "Do you need any help?" Link asked her.

"No, I can do this!" Said the princess confidently. "I've seen the maids do it all the time."

Again, Link shoved his elbow into Itaav, who was yet again about to say something quite rude. So the two simply watched as Zelda awkwardly set the table. Apparently, it had never occurred to her to put the stack of plates down on the table and set it from there. While there were a few close calls, she managed to set the table without breaking a single plate. Still, Link and Itaav were slightly surprised at how difficult she made such a simple task look. But when all was said and done, Zelda beamed at her handy work.

"Wait… I just noticed…" Itaav said, somehow managing to sound three quarters asleep rather than what had been assumed to be half. "Princess… what are you wearing?"

"Hmmm? Oh!" Apparently, Zelda had completely forgotten she wasn't wearing Link's oversized clothes. While she certainly wasn't dressed like a princess, she was dressed like a seafaring lady. With a light blue shirt, a loose dark blue vest, cream knee shorts and a red sash to tie it all together, one might have even thought she was at home on the sea. "My grandmother had left some clothes with Anjean and never picked them back up. So Anjean gave them to me!" She said brightly. "Oh, I should see about cutlery! Be right back!" And with that, she zoomed right into the kitchen.

"You know… she's adapting pretty well." Link said to his friend.

"On the outside, at least." Itaav mumbled as he sat down at the table, still looking as if he would fall asleep again. "I don't know about you but I haven't forgotten about yesterday," he paused to yawn and then continued, "She probably hasn't either."

The Scaler frowned, suddenly realizing what Itaav had meant. Link had very clearly remembered yesterday – it was very difficult not to. Seeing Zelda so peppy, he'd thought that she was doing just fine. But she was probably putting up such a strong face to hide the fact that she was just as worried as them. Safe place or not, they couldn't stay on this island forever… Which brought a question to Link's mind concerning the residents of this island. Both over a hundred years old with probably some idea of what was going on – which was more than either Itaav, Zelda or Link could claim. "Do you think Anjean's going to explain that weird stuff from last night?"

Itaav simply stared at the plate. "I hope so. I've got a few questions for that old woman." He said in almost a growl. He may have been dead tired when he'd overheard it, but the Engineer clearly remembered that Anjean had known his mother… and didn't seem to like her either.

Not long after that short exchange, Zelda came back excitedly handing the two their silverware and placing the rest by the plates. Satisfied with her work, she happily sat down next to Link. The Scaler smiled nervously at her, finding himself yet again unsure as to how to act around her. Should he start a conversation? And if he did, what about? Would he say something wrong… or potentially worse, would he say something stupid? How come he knew when to stop Itaav from being a prick but he didn't know hot to tell if he was being one?

But it seemed fate wouldn't allow Link to overcome this terrible social awkwardness with the fair princess of _the_ _Pride_. Just as he was about to scrounge up the courage to say something, Anjean came in on her strange scooter and took her space at the end of the table and greeted each of the teens with a smile and a nod. Byrne was soon to follow, carrying in a platter of blackened pancakes and what was guessed to be scrambled eggs.

To Link and Itaav, the food was no cause for flinching. _The_ _Pride_ had served worse, and they certainly wasted no time shoveling food onto their plates and right into their mouths. Zelda, on the other hand, simply stared. She hoped she wasn't being rude… but she simply had no idea what she was looking at, let alone if it was _edible_. As her stomach growled in discomfort, however, she did manage to put a rather small portion of the black stuff on her plate as well as some of the strange looking scrambled eggs. As she took a bite out of both, she pursed her lips, not quite sure she was willing to keep eating this… whatever it was. Yet she found herself grimly fascinated with the way Itaav and Link just seemed to ignore taste altogether. In fact… the way the two ate… were they even chewing? Did all men eat like that? No… her brother and father didn't. She looked to Byrne, only to see the man was sitting stoically. From the look of it, he hadn't even attempted to eat. He was simply sitting and waiting.

Interestingly enough, so was Anjean. Neither the master nor apprentice even seemed to have any interest in the food (not that Zelda could blame them). They were simply just sitting and waiting. It was curious to the princess, who had noted that the only thing they claimed to have the day before were some stale biscuits. Did that mean they had no real need to eat, or perhaps were able to go without food for a long time? At first glance, the pair did look Hylian… but for a long while, she had thought Cole was Hylian as well.

As if to confirm that, Anjean gave her a sheepish smile. "We're really not used to cooking down here. Sorry if it's not up to _Pride_ standards."

All of a sudden, the princess forgot her train of thought and felt very guilty about the absent stares she gave the food on her plate. Quickly, she brought up a sheepish smile and said, "Oh no! No need to apologize!" The girl looked back to the blackened pancakes, this time giving it a challenging gaze. Taking a big wad of pancake in her fork, she stuck the whole thing in her mouth… and regretted it immediately. But she chewed, all the while keeping her expression as pleasant as she could muster. _Zelda, you can't be picky now._ She told herself inwardly. _It's either this or nothing at all!_

She ate until she felt more or less satisfied – probably less, but enough to hold her for the moment. Zelda was rather amazed to see that Link and Itaav had pretty much single-handedly eaten probably even the crumbs off of the plates. It was sort of like a ship wreck – terrible to watch but somehow disturbingly compelling to watch. So when the two had finished, she found herself blinking in confusion – wondering how all that they eaten didn't just… well, come right back up.

As if to confirm that they were done, Link ended up belching. Apparently, it came as a surprise even to him, for he quickly clasped his hands over his mouth and his eyes dropped to the table. Zelda wasn't at all sure how to react that – as burping never happened at any meal she had attended before this day. She'd read that Gorons considered burps socially acceptable – a sign that their meal was delicious. But among the Court of _the Pride_ burping was just one of many things frowned upon. But Link seemed to be the only one truly bothered by his own actions, Zelda had noted. Anjean seemed like she was about to chuckle, while Itaav and Byrne just gave the blond boy mildly disappointed looks.

Itaav ended up shaking his wrist in a "so-so" gesture, saying, "I give that one a six. You've done better."

Whatever that meant (for Zelda hadn't the slightest idea), it seemed as if Link seemed to wish as if he could just sink into his chair and be ignored. In fact, that was exactly what the Scaler was feeling. That burp had just come out of nowhere… and in front of the princess!

"Well…" Anjean began, "We promised you answers today. But fair is fair; I'd like to know what brought you three here."

The two boys automatically looked to Zelda, who simply gave a nervous smile. "Ummm… I'm not entirely sure myself…" She confessed. Which was true enough. She'd thought on it before she had fallen asleep the night before. The Gerudo wanted her, and Cole wanted her… but for what purpose? Nonetheless, she went ahead and told the story to the best of her abilities. She began with the Gerudo attack, Cole's "death," the strange feelings of being watched that followed, and then to the events of the day before. She ended up concluding with, "It's really just an unfortunate accident that I managed to drag these two into this situation… At the same time, I don't think I would be here without them…"

Despite the fact that Zelda had meant that last statement with deepest sincerity, the story did not make them feel better at all. The princess hadn't told them everything, and now they had just heard everything. At first, the two had just thought they were dealing with a demon. That alone was bad enough… but the Gerudo also wanted her?

Link, in spite of the uneasiness and fear, felt the desire to protect the princess stronger than ever. She needed their help more than he could have possibly imagined. And this need to help her wasn't because she was a princess or extremely pretty; it was just the way Link was. Itaav had called it a 'hero complex,' mostly because Link had the tendency to almost always want to help someone when they truly needed it. In fact, it was that very hero complex that had changed the bully Itaav into Link's best friend.

But Itaav just found himself wishing more and more that he had just handed the princess over to the guard. When he had suggested flying off to the Palace of Winds with the princess in tow, the heat of the moment didn't really have him thinking everything through. He only laid out the barest skeleton of a plan in his head in their rush to get away – most of which was completely ruined due to Cole finding them at the last minute. And Cole had certainly proven that silly looking or not, a demon was a demon and clearly not meant to be messed with. But now the princess was saying the Gerudo were also involved?

In the end, the whole room was a party of grave expressions. Anjean seemed to be especially troubled as she pinched the bridge of her nose, deep in thought. After a small silence, she finally said, "Byrne and I are familiar with demon named Cole."

None of the three teens said a word, allowing the old woman to continue. Instead, Byrne went on to say, "Years ago, Cole and his master, the Demon King, had fought the very gods themselves to determine the fate of the Great Sea and the Great Continent. The natives of the Continent were servants of the gods, forced to arms to protect everything they held dear… But the Demon King's forces greatly outnumbered those on the Continent. The natives were blessed by the spirits of Light, however, who served the gods and managed to construct a Tower powerful enough to seal the Demon King.

"But not all of the natives had remained loyal to the gods and spirits. One of them had gone to warn the Demon King of the plan to seal him away. It wasn't long before the Demon King had near completed the genocide of an entire people and destroyed the Tower of Spirits. Only six natives were left… and of those six, five had stood up to the Demon King. But the sixth managed to see the light before it was too late. The last six of the Continental natives managed to pull together in an attempt to banish the Demon King to the farthest reaches of the Sea."

Anjean then took the story from there, "Of those six, four perished. They were unable to banish the Demon King…" The old woman seemed off on some distant planet as she spoke, but brightened up a bit and gave a small smile to Zelda. "And then a young woman, claiming to be a princess of a seafaring nation came with a crew of dependable sailors. It ended up the princess was a beacon of light; not only was her heart pure, but she had great magical ability. Together, the princess and her crew of ragtag sailors managed to help the last of the Continental natives; they managed to destroy the Demon King's physical form and seal away his power before banishing his spirit to the edge of the Great Sea."

Zelda and Link's eyes were wide with fascination, while Itaav seemed to be getting more and more put out by the second.

The princess spoke first, her voice barely coming out in a whisper. "That was… Grandma Tetra?"

The old woman nodded. "Yes… and Byrne and I are the last of our people, the Lokomo."

Again did silence permeate through the room… But Itaav had just about enough of the quiet and the calm. Something very ugly had awoken deep within his mind, and it was telling him that this was one huge situation he need have no part in. "If Cole works for this Demon King, what does he want with the princess?" He asked through clenched teeth.

The Lokomo woman gave Itaav an almost disapproving look, but then sighed and said, "He wants to bring his King back to power."

"B-but… what would he need me for?" Zelda squeaked worriedly.

"Sacrifice." Byrne answered bluntly. "He requires a sacrifice of someone pure of heart, descended from one of those who sealed and banished him."

The princess's eyes widened with fear. She was needed for… for a sacrifice?

"That is also why _the Pride _never settled in the Continent," Anjean added. "A descendant of the princess who had banished the Demon King is harder to get to on a moving target with access to powerful barriers and plenty of people. You really had no idea, Zelda?"

The princess just barely shook her head, still unable to find words.

"It seems the royal family has either forgotten or the knowledge currently only lies with the king…" Byrne mused.

"Wait," Link interrupted. "But what about the Gerudo? Why do they want her?"

"That, I couldn't tell you." Anjean confessed grimly. "Byrne and I have remained on this island for years, waiting for Malladus to rear his head from the shadows… But news travels slowly along the sea – Byrne hears what he can when he leaves the island, but we do not pay much mind to the Gerudo. The Demon King is our priority… Now I see we should have kept our ears open for Gerudo too."

Itaav then rose quickly from the table, putting all eyes on him. The Magic Engineer looked positively irate; his glare seemed to focus on Anjean, who merely stared calmly back at him. "I am _not_ having any part of this." He said venomously.

"Itaav-" Link was going to attempt talking sense into his friend, but Itaav had sent him a ferocious glare. If that red gaze had blades, the Scaler would have most certainly died. Only his words died in his throat, though, and all he could do was stare at his friend in shock. He had never – _never_ – seen Itaav so angry.

With nothing else apparently needing to be said, the pale boy stormed out of the room and towards the tunnel out of the underground house. Link scrambled up, but Anjean quickly said, "No. If anyone is to speak with him, it will be me." Without waiting for anyone else to tell her otherwise, the old woman followed Itaav's path to the tunnel.

Link, still half-standing, watched blankly as the woman disappeared up the tunnel. He eventually felt a tug on his arm, and he looked down to see Zelda. Her eyes were as big as saucers and her lips were quivering. She seemed terrified and on the verge of tears… and he couldn't blame her… Not after hearing all that had been said…

"I'll protect you." Link finally said to her. "I don't care what Itaav does, but I'll protect you."

The girl's lips pursed, but she nodded. She finally let him go and stared down at the table. It wasn't long before she buried her face in her hands and began to sob quietly. But Zelda did not cry completely out of fear for herself, but mostly out of fear for what she was brining upon for these boys she had dragged along. Itaav was certainly in his rights to be upset… and Link. Link seemed so willing to help her, but… but he could end up dead for that. Anjean and Byrne could end up dead for that! And Itaav too! Even if he did part ways from them, Cole had already seen him involved!

Link sat down with a pained expression as he heard the princess crying. He found himself wanting to hold her… But he didn't. Zelda had ended up grabbing him and crying into his chest first. And although he was red in the face and terribly unused to it… he did hold her.

Byrne merely watched the two from where he sat. The two were… they were like their ancestors but not. He supposed when he had first seen them, he had expected they would be exactly like them. But they weren't. They were completely different people, unfortunately born into the lousiest of generations and completely unprepared for a journey as dangerous as the one ahead of them… Yet, who would be? Even Anjean hadn't expected Cole to sneak into _the Pride_…

The Lokomo male grimaced. None of this boded well.

* * *

Itaav was angry. He'd been angry plenty of times before, but this was… it was a different kind of angry. This was the kind of raw emotion that was making his mastery of wind magic go absolutely haywire. He knew that because after the apparent storm from the night before, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, yet the wind was gusting like crazy.

Had he known that the princess had gotten into this sort of mess…

He couldn't even finish the thought before he ended up sending an angry blade of wind into the waters off of the island. He needed to get out. He would find the _Helmaroc_ and leave; fly away to the Palace of Winds without the hindrance of dealing with the princess of the apocalypse!

The Engineer went on searched for his magical signature on the island to find his beloved ship, only to flinch. It was that sacred barrier he'd felt the night before except… it was sending a shiver down his spine. As if it didn't want him there. He found himself baring his teeth at that. That was just fine; he didn't want to be there either.

Finding the ship and marching angrily towards it, Itaav did his best to try and control the angry galestorm he was causing. He didn't even need to dispel his cloaking on the airship to know it was probably ready to glide at any moment with all the crazy winds around it. Taking deep breaths, the winds eventually died down to angry breezes. Only then did he dispel the cloak and headed towards his pilot's seat.

"Where do you think you're going?"

The ugly anger from before flared up in him again as he sent a livid glare at Anjean.

As soon as the glare had hit the old woman, a mean gust nearly knocked her over. She silently cursed, wishing the terrain of this island was compatible with her scooter. But she kept forward, throwing her own nasty stare right back at the boy.

"I'm getting out of here." Despite the calm in which he had said it, it was more than obvious he was still deathly upset.

Anjean continued her trek closer to the airship, cursing each stone and piece of rubble that impeded the path her short, frail legs needed to take. "Those two need you." She told him.

"If Link wants to stay and protect Miss Nibs, that's his problem, not mine. I'm not willing to die for her." He snapped before turning on his heel and hopping into his pilot's seat. He was just about ready to send his ship flying.

"Don't be so selfish! They'll die without you!" The old woman shouted furiously.

"_I am selfish!_" Itaav shouted right back.

This time, the gust of wind that accompanied his anger did knock Anjean down. But she pushed herself up and stood her ground. She was panting with hands on her knees, looking as if she was bout to fall over… but she stood her ground and she made sure she was staring daggers at that boy.

And how he hated that stare. It was a challenging type of stare, the type that if he tore his gaze away… he would've lost. And he hated losing. "I am selfish. What they want – what _you_ want – doesn't work for me. And _I_ want no part of that." He snarled, never breaking their eye contact.

The Lokomo woman gave him an incredulous chuckle. "They don't _want_ this. None of us _want_ this. But it's happening. And I can easily say that without you and your flying machine here, your friend and the princess will die. Byrne and I will die. And the Demon King will take the Continent and _the Pride_. And who knows what may happen with the addition of the Gerudo."

"And I'll survive in up the Palace of Winds. Works for me." Itaav spat.

"Does it?" Anjean asked. "Are you even listening to yourself speak? Do you really crave to be alone for the rest of your _life_?"

That managed to shut Itaav's mouth, but his anger was still there.

"And you won't survive; Malladus will find a way to deal with you… Do you really want to relive those nightmares you have in your waking moments?"

And that dropped his anger in favor of shock. His red eyes went blank with shock. "How… how do you know about that?"

The woman's own angry gaze seemed to soften somewhat, turning stolid and serious. "Your mother possibly knew more about you than you do now."

Another statement that took him completely by surprise. In his anger, he'd completely forgotten about the conversation he'd overheard she and Byrne having. "How did you know my mother?" He asked quickly, the edge returning to his voice.

Anjean remained silent, her eyes once again locked in a challenge with the boy's. Eventually, she gave in. "Eighteen years ago, a hurricane ravaged these waters. An unfortunate ship was caught in it and ended up sinking. Byrne and I didn't expect any would survive. But one did… or rather, two did. A woman had washed up on shore… a heavily pregnant one. Your mother and yourself – save you were in her womb."

Itaav simply remained blank… his mother had never told him this…

She continued, "It appeared she had been living on _the Pride_, but her marriage to someone beneath her class did not go over well with her family. She and her husband left to mainland but had plans to live on an island not too far from here. That was when the wreck happened… And she worried terribly for her unborn child, saying he was destined for greatness."

He was having trouble believing this story. She might have just been making this all up in some attempt to keep him from flying off… but last night she had mentioned his mother, and he was fairly certain she'd no idea he had been eavesdropping. But her last sentence… that wasn't a lie. His mother had always told him he was going to be great… But all mothers said that to their kids.

"I'm sure you're aware your mother was a Seer."

It was like a slap in the face. Anjean was not lying. No one, aside from himself and his terrible relatives in the Inner Wall, had known that. As far as he knew, even his father hadn't known that.

"She said her child would suffer and dream of an unending prison, but would become stronger for all of it. He would do great things, maybe even terrible things, just to find his place in the world." Anjean was now speaking half-truths. She wasn't lying, though. Only saying as much as she could without revealing the real truth his mother knew. But she already feared she had said too much. "How do you know some of these great and terrible things your mother spoke of did not entail these coming events?"

He was quiet. Itaav didn't know what to make of that story. He found himself more confused than ever. Anjean hadn't been lying, he was sure of it. But he still had no desire to get mixed up in any of this craziness. Yet Anjean had managed to stall him enough to get his head on straight…

Did he want to save the world? No. Did he want to help the princess? Still no. Did he want to participate in anything with a high chance of death? Definitely no. Did he want to live out his nightmares as Anjean implied the Demon King could do?

… No.

Goddesses he just… he really didn't want to…

He rested his forehead on the steering wheel of the _Helmaroc_. He was so damned confused…

"Come back inside, Itaav." Anjean said gently.

"No." His response came out weak, but rough nonetheless.

"Don't be like that. Come back inside and at least listen. There still is the possibility that this can be handled without anyone getting killed."

"I doubt that." He replied dully.

"Then what will you do? Find your Palace and then what? What would you do?" Anjean asked.

He growled, unsure as to how to answer. Because he simply didn't know. The Palace of Winds was a place he felt he needed to get to, but he really had no idea what he would do when he got there. Itaav just kind of assumed something life-changing would happen.

"The princess needs you… Your _friend_ needs you." Anjean said imploringly. "They can't do this without you. Help them; if only for now."

Again he felt a bit of rage swell up, but it died down quickly. He hated to admit it, but Anjean had essentially beat him into submission. He was just being the sore loser he was. But after what seemed like hours and was in actuality perhaps a minute, he stepped out of the _Helmaroc_ and headed back to Anjean and Byrne's underground home.

The old Lokomo watched the boy as he walked on ahead and let out a sigh of relief. For a moment, she thought his mind could not be changed. While she didn't care for the past life of the boy, he really was one of their greatest assets right now.

* * *

Zelda had stopped crying and now sat staring straight ahead. The way she was held herself might've fooled anyone into thinking she hadn't been crying at all, if not those red rimmed eyes. The princess certainly knew she was allowed to cry, but she didn't like it. Mostly because she'd read quite enough books to know that on any adventure of this kind of gravity, _no one_ liked the damsel in distress who did nothing but cry.

Link, for the moment, had currently forgotten he'd spent a few minutes holding and comforting the princess. Ever since she let go and told him a thank you and that she was fine, his eyes were glued to the tunnel. He certainly wanted Itaav to come back, he just didn't know if he would. He really never had seen his friend so angry and upset before – it was almost like he was a different person. At the same time, Link could understand his friend's point of view… he didn't necessarily like it, as it didn't seem right, but he could understand.

He just hoped Anjean had been able to talk some sense into them because… well, Link wasn't quite sure what he could do to protect the princess without him. He didn't have an airship or any means of transportation. But Anjean had said this place was sacred and therefore safe; maybe they wouldn't have to move? … No, that was silly. This was no time for false optimism. Safe place or not, nowhere was safe for long – as proven on _the Pride_ when Cole had found the hangar.

Itaav did come back, however, and Link found himself relaxing somewhat. His friend still didn't look thrilled and took the seat furthest away from everyone at the table with crossed arms, but he definitely didn't seem to be in the terrible mood he was in before. Anjean followed soon after, he strange updo looking a bit windswept and some dirt on her clothes, but she acted as if nothing had happened. Her scooter simply zoomed over back to the head of the table.

She and Byrne exchanged whispers for a moment, but when that was all done she faced the three again. "And now I think it's time we all discuss what's to be done."

"We can't stay here?" Zelda asked quietly.

The old woman shook her head. "No, I'm afraid not. Byrne and I have managed to keep this place hidden through one of us being here at all times. As soon as we both leave, this place will only offer protection from the most minor of evils. Cole will find it easily."

"You're not staying?" Link asked, confused.

"We can't," Byrne answered. "With Malladus trying to come back into power now, there's little we can do by remaining here."

"So where will you go? Where will we go?" Zelda asked worriedly.

"Bleak." Byrne said simply.

Link, Zelda, and even Itaav seemed confused at the name. "Um… what's that?" Link asked.

"Bleak is an island in the Misty Sea. It doesn't have the best of reputations… but people from all over congregate there. If you need information, Bleak is the place to go." Byrne explained. "And seeing as we have no idea what the Gerudo are up to… Well, I may know someone who does know what they're up to."

"And how are we supposed to navigate the Misty Sea? We don't know where this place is." Itaav pointed out flatly.

The big Lokomo shrugged, "We can guide you there. We have a boat – so long as you keep within view of us, you can get there easily."

"You sound like you're not coming with us…" The princess said quietly.

Anjean gave the girl a small smile. "Unfortunately no. Byrne and I have our investigations to do. But rest assured, we'll find you again when the time is right."

Zelda remained quiet. She had very mixed feelings about that. Around here she had felt perfectly safe… She didn't want to leave this place, but there was no other option if Anjean and Byrne were leaving. "What are you investigating?" She asked curiously.

"We can't tell you that just yet," Anjean said with a wink, "But once we find it, that Demon King won't stand a chance, dear."

Hearing that made Zelda's eyes brighten with optimism.

"Now the sooner the better! If we get ready now, we can all be on our way and you three will be at Bleak in no time!" Anjean said cheerily.

"I'll get the boat ready," Byrne said, getting up and heading for the tunnel.

Zelda shot up excitedly and followed the Lokomo male, asking, "Can I help?"

Link began to rise, if only to make sure the princess wouldn't get into any trouble, but Anean said, "Wait. I still need to speak to you and your friend here."

The Scaler gave the woman a puzzled look, but nodded and sat back down. He noted that Itaav hadn't moved an inch and still seemed a bit embittered.

She gave both boys serious looks. "You two are going to be responsible for that girl. She needs to be protected. Byrne and I won't be around to shield her like we did this island. Be mindful of all that is around you and trust no one."

Link, brow furrowed in determination, nodded. Itaav, on the other hand, seemed to have gotten a bit of his bad mood back. "Why not just take her with you then?"

"Where Byrne and I are going is far too dangerous." She said.

Itaav forked an eyebrow, but then seemed to have a look of understanding. "You're heading right into this Demon King's territory…"

The old woman did not confirm or deny it. "You two should probably be getting set yourselves. I doubt in your escape you brought any rupees… and where Byrne and I are going, we've no use for them. Come now, follow me. You'll need them in Bleak."

* * *

The chapter in which we see that Itaav is more like Vaati than I originally let on (sneaky sneaky little Rei) and where we get some differences from what actually happened in Spirit Tracks and this AU. I could go on to explain details right now, but then I'm afraid you all might get smart and figure me out so NO SOUP FOR YOU. Rest assured, I'll get into the important details in later chapters. Oh yeah, and I made this totally darker since Malladus doesn't really want Zelda's body. WHOOPS, did I lead you guys on again? Naughty, naughty little Rei. What big mean Mally said back in chapter 5 still remains, though... I should shut up now before everyone figures shit out because I've already said too much... I'm assuming we're all more or less adults/intelligent teenagers; you can all think for yourselves. I'm just being an idiot chatterbox right now.

And yes, lots of LinkZelda moments in this chapter. Fellow VaatiZelda fans, don't throw full whine bottles at me. Just give it time, kay. This is still but the beginning of the story... Mwahahaha! ... But what will be in the end? Hmmm, well, what I said on DA might've been a big fat lie~ oooooohimsuchabitch.

Hmmmm, next chapter is making me all... well, I'm actually pretty unsure how to go about it (even though I have an outline, fml). I guess I'm just wondering whether or not I should go through with a certain part or not... If I do, the rating will probably have to be boosted up to M...


	12. Bleak, Island of Thieves

_CRAP IN A BUCKET._ Did I just update? Have I updated in less than a _week_? UGWHAAAAAAAA - yes, yes I did. I am so proud of myself. -tear- Anyways, I have lots to say to the readers who reviewed, so today's responses will be at the bottom.

Anyways, after writing this chapter, I'm not quite sure if it warrants an M rating or not. I don't _think_ so, as I've seen _far_ worse in the T rating... But again, I'm not quite sure and I am a stickler for the rules (in FFN at least). If you'd all be dears, tell me what you think in a review.

* * *

It had not been an easy flight from Anjean and Byrne's island to Bleak. Or rather, it had been up until they reached the Misty Sea. The Misty Sea was closer than Itaav had thought, which had only showed he didn't know his sea charts as well as he should have. And "Misty" really wasn't a misnomer. Of the three on the _Helmaroc_, none of them could really accurately make out the Lokomo boat from a bird's eye view. The fog that gave the Misty Sea its name was simply too thick. Because of that, Itaav had to fly his airship closer to the boat and the water. The simplest miscalculation in flight might send them right into the water… and neither he, nor Link, and he was pretty sure Zelda as well, knew how to swim. But he did his best to keep his mind clear (which is still really wasn't) and his eyes focused on the boat ahead of them.

They could only hope they could make it there before night fell, seeing as twilight was closing in fast and in the process giving the fog all sorts of weird lighting effects. But the weird lighting didn't seem to hinder the silhouette of Bleak. To his relief, Itaav managed to bring the _Helmaroc_ up without much issue… he just had no idea where he was going to park.

"Can't you just land it in the water and tie it in like a boat?" Link had asked when he sensed his friend's thought.

Itaav couldn't have looked more offended. "This is an _air_ship not a… a ship ship!" He said in a huff.

Luckily, Byrne and Anjean had taken port temporarily by a dock with a space large enough nearby to fit the airship. He circled the area of a few times, making sure he was getting his calculations just right before landing. Link, however, was keeping watch of Bleak itself. The mist seemed to clear a bit in the view of the actual island and… well, the people that weren't staring at what probably looked like a giant bat circling the docks seemed drunk, sleazy, angry or an odd combination of all three.

Zelda also managed to note another off-putting thing about the island so far, "It smells like the kitchens when they have left over fish and haven't thrown it out yet…"

The Engineer landed the airship gently, no doubt with a hint of help from his own magic. Link was only too happy to get off the wretched thing, though Zelda did remain for a moment to see what Itaav was doing. When she caught sight of Anjean and Byrne on their boat by the docks, however, she practically jumped out of the airship to bid the two farewell. Link went and joined her.

"The name of the person you need to meet is a Scrub that goes by Pennysworth." Byrne said to them. "He won't be kind, though. Like everyone else on Bleak, rupees do the talking – use them sparingly and don't squander them."

Link nodded and Zelda mimicked the action, albeit more animated. "And you and Anjean will find us again as soon as you're done, right?" She asked hopefully.

The older Lokomo nodded with a smile. "Of course. But you three be extremely careful! Especially here."

"We will!" The princess assured, waving at them as their boat began to drift away from Bleak.

The two watched the Lokomo pair until the fog swallowed them and their boat up. Zelda's eyes seemed to search for them for a few moments, no doubt nervous that the two were really not around. Link, yet again, could not find words to reassure her. He simply put a hesitant hand on her shoulder and urged her back towards the _Helmaroc_.

Itaav had not been looking their way, so he completely missed the departure of Anjean and Byrne and their cautions. He had actually been giving the evil eye to all the passerby that had so much as given his precious airship a passing glance. He had made sure to tie it, spell it, and ward it, but that didn't stop him from giving suspicious glares to those who stared at his airship. In fact, as he watched some ruddy looking thugs pacing around nearby, he was getting the feeling that Bleak was named Bleak for a very good reason… and it had less to do with the local weather conditions and more to do with the quality of the people that lived there.

"Itaav," Link called. "We should probably find a place to stay. I don't think we'll be finding Pennysworth today – it's getting dark." And what the blond boy had really meant by that was, 'I really don't want to be out here with all these suspicious people in the dark.'

That was something Zelda and Itaav could agree with, even if the Engineer hated the thought of leaving his precious airship. He was actually very reluctant to leave it, and he wasn't satisfied about leaving it out of his sight until he made sure to warn very loudly, "There are enough anti-theft spells on this thing to give you all nightmares for a year and singe off your eyebrows – that's just for starters! Think about _that_ before you even try to touch it!" He spat. Not that anyone could. As soon as he was a foot away from his precious _Helmaroc_, he'd set up a shield.

The Scaler really wished Itaav hadn't said that. It was giving their little group some very unfriendly looks… and drawing attention to the lone female among them. Zelda really didn't like the feel of these strange people's eyes on her – even less so from the people who were actually giving her friendly looks. She found herself clinging to Link's arm and hoping they could manage to find a place where so many eyes wouldn't be on them.

Link's movements stiffened at first as he felt Zelda cling to him. A girl had never clung to him before and… well, he wasn't entirely used to it. It was warm and nice and he found himself rather happy that for once a girl was clinging to him and not Itaav. But there wasn't time for thinking about how pleasant it was for him to get attention from a girl – especially since it probably stemmed from the fact they were in a less than welcoming town. "They told us not to waste so we can't go anywhere expensive…"

"Somehow, I don't think anywhere we go here is a place where we'll get what we pay for…" Itaav grumbled.

"Maybe we should go to the first place we see then?" Zelda suggested in a squeak.

Link and Itaav looked at each other, simply shrugging. It couldn't hurt. They did have to look, though, all the while ignoring some shady merchants, drunkards, scam artists, and what Zelda's brother had always referred to as "ladies of the evening." She just tried not to look at the last of the bunch, as they tended to be dressed most inappropriately. Ladies of the evening existed even behind the Inner Wall of _the Pride_ but at least the ones there dressed in proper fashions.

They passed all sorts of buildings in their search as well. When they passed the doors of the establishments, they almost always heard music, laughing, fighting, and the strong odor of overcooked meat and liquor assaulted their noses. Several of them were, in fact, inns. But the sounds and shrieks and smells coming from them seemed a bit… overbearing was one way of putting it. They figured that getting separated in such crowded places would be very bad.

Eventually, the three came across a place called the Stock Pot Inn. Like most of the rest of Bleak, it had a rather unpleasant outside, but the inside seemed much calmer than the other establishments they'd passed. And calmer just meant there wasn't quite so much yelling as much as there was the dull roar of many people conversing and only the slightest stench of liquor. Link, being the one entrusted with the rupees, led the way inside, with Zelda still clinging at his arm.

Despite not being as loud as any of the other establishments, the Stock Pot Inn was still very busy. The tavern in the first floor was obviously very crowded, with happy drunks and what seemed to be the small population of reputable people within Bleak. Unlike other places they had checked, the crowd didn't spill into the lobby, leaving their drunken good cheer in the tavern.

The woman at the counter was an anxious redhead that scurried back and forth, giving off the impression that the Inn may have been understaffed. She did eventually catch sight of the three, gawking at them as if she was seeing a hallucination. After a moment, she gave a quick apologetic bow and said, "Sorry, no more rooms available!"

She was about to scurry off again, but Link quickly stepped forward, "Wait, wait! We only really need one! I mean, isn't there anything available?" Zelda frowned a bit at Link's mention of only needing one room, but she didn't push it. She just needed to have faith that these boys knew what they were doing.

The woman looked over the three and bit down on her thumbnail. She seemed to be going through some sort of inner conflict, but in her rushed state, gave in quickly. "There is one room available but… well…" She shook her head, as if trying to shake any negativity out of her, and then quickly brightened. "That'll be 50 rupees!"

Link blinked in confusion. Fifty rupees was incredibly cheap. He looked back at Itaav, who just shrugged in response. They both had the idea that there had to be something very wrong with the room but they couldn't exactly look for another place. This seemed to be the most docile of the establishments they had passed, and Zelda was beginning to look nearly as harried as the inn worker did just from walking through the streets of Bleak.

"Is… is 50 bad?" Zelda asked in a hushed whisper to Link.

He shook his head, "No… it just seems a bit too good to be true… Just… just try not to be surprised if we get a really bad deal." He whispered back.

Zelda's brow furrowed upwards. She wasn't at all what to make sure of this whole thing… 50 was good, but because it was good it was bad?

Link fished in the wallet that Anjean had given him and pulled out a purple rupee. The woman at the counter took it pocketed it, then grabbed a key and handed it to the blond boy. "Just down the hall there," she said, "I'd lead you there myself but I have to check the kitchen." Without another word, she headed off to where the three could only assume the kitchen was.

Itaav was quick to snatch the key right out of Link's hand and lead the way down the hall. The hall was actually quite thin, and the three had to put their backs to a wall to avoid a stumbling drunk. But other than that, it was a short walk to the room. The Engineer had put the key in the lock, gave Link and Zelda a "get ready for the worst" kind of face, and then turned the key and opened.

All three had flinched as they heard the door creak open. When Itaav finally managed to take a look inside… "Huh… It looks normal." The Scaler and the princess quickly peeked around the paler of the trio, then they stepped inside. It did look normal. It was a smallish room, dusty but otherwise surprisingly clean, with only one bed and a door to what seemed to be a washroom.

"… I think I remember hearing something about a fungus that can kill you if you stay near it too long…" Link commented as he gingerly stepped around the room. "Think it might be in the walls?"

Zelda stared at the blond boy fearfully. However, an answer from Itaav put her fears to rest. "Nah, I hear that stuff takes weeks to kill a person." He knocked on a wall lightly and frowned, "Even the walls sound normal… Maybe it's a haunted room?"

This time, Zelda went and fearfully stared at Itaav. "Haunted?" She squeaked.

The purple haired boy looked at the princess as if he'd forgotten she was there. Then he smirked and said, "Oh yes. For all we know, there could be Ghinis and Poes living in these walls, waiting for when the sun goes down completely." He sauntered over next to Zelda, draping an arm around her shoulders and pointing to the corners of the room. "And they'll come out from shadows there and there when you're nice and snug in the bed… they might tug on your hair a bit before giving you a big ol' lick to the face." Zelda shuddered at the thought; but then quickly jumped and squealed when Itaav whispered, "Boo," right into her ear.

"Itaav!" Link snapped at his friend. The Engineer chuckled before taking a few steps away from the girl, clearly unapologetic. Link then looked to Zelda and giving her a reassuring smile. "I'm pretty sure it's not haunted. Itaav's just being a jerk."

The princess pursed her lips, as if unsure of Link's claims that there would be no haunting, but nodded.

"Speaking of jerks, who's the jerk we're supposed to find?" Itaav asked.

"A Scrub named Pennysworth," Link recalled what Byrne had said. "But here… I don't even know where we'd begin. This place is way bigger than I expected and… finding someone, even if he is a Scrub, might take us _days_…"

Everyone was silent at Link's last sentence. No one wanted to be there for days – in fact, as soon as they grounded on Bleak, they were pretty sure they didn't even want to be there an hour.

"Yeah, we're not staying here for days. Link, hand over a couple hundred rupees." Itaav said.

"What? Why?" The Scaler asked, confused.

"Because I'm going out to get some information on this Pennysworth guy. And I'm pretty sure if I put on my best smile and ask nicely, I'll have a better chance of getting mugged." Itaav explained frankly.

"Oh…" That made sense.

Link tossed the wallet to Itaav, who took out red rupees totaling to two hundred regular, and then two purple rupees. Then he threw the wallet back to Link before heading out of the room. "I'll be back later then."

"Good luck!" Zelda said cheerily.

The other blond, however, just frowned, wondering if he made a huge mistake.

Itaav just closed the door behind him and walked back to the inn lobby. He knew Link would worry about whether he'd be a reckless spender… and his friend's fears were not entirely unfounded. He did have every intention of getting some information… he just needed to take care of something first. Something he needed the moment this crazy escapade began.

As soon as the redheaded girl passed by the counter, he stopped her. "Scuse me, Miss. I was just wondering, I have two hundred rupees in red; if I give you those, could I get two orange in exchange?"

The girl gave him a confused look, as when people asked for change they normally wanted smaller rupees, not bigger. But she shrugged, quickly taking the rupees and coming back with the two orange Itaav had asked for. She was about to rush off, but again Itaav stopped her. "Sorry, one more question: Where can I find a decent looking hooker?"

* * *

People had always told Red, 'they don't come for a pretty face.' And in the whoring business, that was both a truth and a pun. That was also why the focus in the business just tended to be making money for the pimp in charge. However, growing up in a whorehouse, Red had noticed that having a pretty face certainly didn't hurt. In fact, the prettier the whore, the more business they seemed to get, and therefore the better they were treated by the pimp.

So Red was very glad that she was one of the prettier ones in her business. At a young age, she practically had her pimp eating out of the palm of her hand. When she had gained enough favor, she eventually left the brothel to freelance. Again, she excelled there… because she became a self-proclaimed high-class prostitute. Because she was pretty, she could charge more. Because she charged more, she had a rather lavish lifestyle that she refused to give up.

Unfortunately, business had taken a turn for the worse… Well, for freelancers like herself, anyways. And the season for her normal clientele had passed, what with market and pirating seasons having arrived not too long ago. That was the only problem Red really had in Bleak – the locals usually couldn't afford her. And she wasn't about to lower her prices; her body may have been an amusement park, but it was a beautiful and fun one – which meant the price for admission was naturally higher.

So as she stood in front of her apartment, leaning in a provocative manner with her back against the wall, she didn't expect to get any takers. It was rather early in the night too, so she really couldn't expect business from any locals who'd come across some cash to wander over just yet. Even her neighbors, fellow high-class prostitues, weren't out displaying themselves yet. But, the early bird got the worm… Maybe she'd catch an early bird.

The intuition she had about early birds ended up proving correct that night.

_Target acquired_, she thought sing-songily. The target she was referring to was walking down the street – and if he was walking down _this_ street, he was obviously looking for something. He was a young man, possibly in his late teens; pale and purple haired… and handsome. That was always a plus in her book, not that she'd charge him any less if he did buy.

He paused when he was a few feet away from her, looking at her from top to bottom.

With a confident smile, she asked, "Like what you see, pretty boy?"

He smiled right back. "How much?"

Straight to the point. Red liked him so far. "Two-fifty is my normal rate; payment up front."

The young man walked up to her and held out two oranges and a purple. She wrapped her fingers around the rupees and his hand lightly and guided the young man into her apartment.

Naturally, things went from there.

And Red was quite impressed. The thing about young men was that they were normally so easy to take care of. They didn't have much experience and they spent all their energy so quickly because of a lack of self control. This fellow, though, had proven that he certainly liked to enjoy himself and was in no rush to do so.

It was a rarity for Red to feel so appreciated – especially by a client. His hands explored her body; running his fingers through her hair, feeling her soft, firm breasts, taking in the curves of her waist and back, caressing her legs… And he had such technique! The young ones were normally still developing in that area, but this young man certainly had something going for himself. Sure, he was a little rough, but she'd had rougher, and she rather liked the level he was at. It was Red's job to show someone a good time, and occasionally she'd have a good time too. But she was having herself a great time this time around – enough so that those moans of pleasure she'd been trained to give weren't entirely faked.

When all was done, she could safely and gladly say they had both enjoyed themselves.

"Wow… I really needed that…" The young man panted.

"Really?" With a satisfied smile, pressing her body to his again, she asked, "Girlfriend not good enough?"

He chuckled tiredly. "The only girl in my life right now is not my girlfriend; she's barely a friend… and she's proven to be more trouble than she's worth."

"Then why do you hang around her?" Red asked simply.

"She got herself into some trouble and my friend wants to protect her… At this point, they're both a pain in the ass, but I owe my friend one."

"How noble," she teased, twirling a finger on his chest. "What kind of trouble is she in?"

He smirked at her. "Can't tell you that."

She feigned a pout, but let her smile pour out as she sat up and stretched. Fun as that was, it was about time to wrap things up. Standing up, she picked up the dress so carelessly thrown on the floor. It was simple enough to put on… and simple enough to take off. And it was the color of her namesake – because naturally Red wasn't her real name.

She could hear the pretty boy shuffling around too. She didn't expect him to ask, "Mind if I ask you a few things?"

She forked an eyebrow as she looked over her shoulder. "It depends what you want to hear, pretty boy."

He smirked as he buckled his belt. "I think I proved I'm not a boy not too long ago." Then he put a hand in his pocket and pulled out another purple rupee, tossing it to her. "Catch."

She caught the rupee and her smile broadened. "What do you want to know?"

"Here in Bleak, do you hear anything about the Gerudo?" He asked.

Red flipped the purple rupee in her fingers thoughtfully and shook her head. "They take port every so often on the other side of the island, but other than that, no. They keep to themselves – rarely show up over here. Even my local customers don't hear much of them."

She wondered what was going through the pretty boy's head as she said that. He didn't seem to like it when she mentioned that they took port in Bleak occasionally, nor did he seem to like the fact she really didn't know anything else. Eventually, he asked, "Alright. A Scrub named Pennysworth; know where he hangs out?"

Red's expression went serious. "Pretty boy, I actually kind of like you – which is why I'm going to tell you to keep your pretty face far away from that Scrub."

He was puzzled, no doubt, but he seemed to get the gravity of her statement. "I was told he might have some information I need."

"Oh, there's no doubt that Pennysworth is the best information broker in Bleak. If you need to know something, he's got it. But that's precisely why you need to stay away from him – because you don't get all that info without ruffling a few feathers." She explained.

"Who's feathers did he ruffle?" He asked.

Oh drat. That was another thing about young guys… they were so persistent – even when it came to things that didn't involve sex. She should just throw him out to stop him from asking these questions! But she could see that this pretty boy was determined to get all he could from her… And aside from handing her an extra fifty, he did show her a pretty good time. She scowled. "He ruffled Blind's feathers."

* * *

Link and Zelda had eventually gone to the lobby and towards the tavern area for some food. The pair tried to stay inconspicuous; taking what seemed to be a neglected table in the corner of the room. At the same time, that meant they didn't get the attention of the server for a bit. Nonetheless, Zelda was glad that no one seemed to be looking their way, and that she was actually presented with a more edible type of food. It wasn't like anything from _the Pride_'s Inner Wall, but it was certainly much better than the food the Lokomo pair had provided earlier in the day.

When they had returned to the room, Itaav still hadn't returned. Neither thought much of it, as they supposed getting information took time. Link still couldn't help but get that nagging feeling that Itaav might very well have been wasting their funds, but he tried not to think too much about it. In fact, he was trying not to think about their money at all. There was a lot – Anjean and Byrne had saved and saved and apparently didn't use much – but Link was rather frugal. As a Scaler, he didn't get paid an especially high salary on _the Pride_. So in order to make his living, he'd had to budget and scrimp, spending only on things that were necessary. Goddesses knew it took him forever to save for those magnetic boots – enough so that he hadn't grown into them until a year after he bought them.

Getting that huge wallet of rupees and being told to spend it wisely, he'd become even more frugal. And even though Itaav had given a perfectly logical response as to why he needed the rupees, Link also knew his friend had terrible spending habits… most of them in the form of the _Helmaroc_… which he supposed wasn't so terrible now seeing as the stupid flying machine saved their lives. But he would still spend money on other stupid things like ten pounds worth of titanium rods – very expensive and, to the best of Link's knowledge, unused and still upon _the Pride_.

_Maybe I should've gone and he could've stayed with Zelda._ He thought. But it was too late for that now… And even so, that was another bad idea altogether. Itaav had hid it well, but Link knew his temper from earlier in the day hadn't quite abated…

Zelda was less preoccupied with Itaav's spending habits (or her own for that matter, because Link had spent more than she would've guessed at the tavern on her meal alone) or his attitude. Since she didn't really know either of the boys that well, she trusted that they both knew what they were doing. It never really occurred to her that they actually had little to no idea what they were doing. And at the moment, she was just very sleepy. It was probably because she had eaten quite a hearty meal down at the tavern. She didn't want to sleep, though. In fact, the princess found herself feeling the same unsure and fearful feeling she'd had back when Cole had first tried to kidnap her… _In order to sacrifice me…_

The thought kept her even more fearful. What if he had found them here on Bleak? And what would he do to Link and Itaav?

But even with all those thoughts swimming in her head, her food induced drowsiness took over and sent her off into a bitter sleep upon the sole bed of the room.

Link hadn't really noticed, as he spent his time in a corner of the room trying to construct a budget. His rupee-pinching ways weren't letting him think about anything else at the moment, and he regretted he hadn't thought of it earlier. But as the night went on, he ended up straining his brain enough to get him a bit drowsy as well. His head had sagged down onto his knees just as he was thinking what on earth was taking Itaav so long…

And then he realized something.

He had to pee.

With a sigh, he stood up and headed to the washroom.

A few seconds after he had entered, he let out a blood-curdling scream and ran straight out of the washroom until he couldn't go any further.

"Link! What happened? Why did you scream?" He heard Zelda ask fearfully. She had scurried over to him, clutching the bed blanket as if it might act as a shield if something came and attacked them.

The blond boy just stared at her absently, too terrified and shocked to speak. His mouth opened and closed as he tried to get words to come out. After a few moments, he managed, "Z-Zelda, do _not_ go into the bathroom! There's a _hand_ in there!"

The girl gasped, a hand cupping her mask in horror. "A severed hand?"

"No!" Link shook his head, "No, it's a live one with an arm!" He pointed quickly to his right arm – which he then flailed upward as if trying to mimic what he saw. "It's just like reaching out of the toilet – _it's fucking alive, Zelda!_" He was panicking so much, he didn't even care about the language he used in front of her.

"What?" She asked, not sure what she was hearing.

"_There's an arm reaching out from the toilet!_" Link practically shouted in his panic – frustrated that the girl didn't seem to understand what he was saying.

This time, the princess stared at him absently, then she dropped the blanket and walked on over to the bathroom.

"I said _don't_ go in there!" Link cried out helplessly, his legs refusing to move to stop the girl.

She disappeared into the bathroom, then her head popped out from the doorway and she said with a cheerful smile, "There _is_ an arm in here!" She was completely back in the bathroom again and Link was aghast. She was smiling about an _arm_ from the _toilet_? "It looks like it's reaching out for something…" He could hear say from the lavatory. "What do you think it might want?"

"Who cares what it wants! _I_ don't want it in there! It's an arm in the toilet! It's not supposed to be there!" The Scaler shouted. In fact, he kind of wanted to cry about this. She was acting all calm and even excited about this when there was nothing to be calmly excited about.

The door to the room opened and Link nearly jumped out of his boots.

Itaav stared absently at his friend's reaction, looking from the fearful Link glued to the wall, to the piled up blanket on the floor, to the open washroom. "What's happening?"

"_There's a hand in the toilet!_" Link screamed again.

"A severed one?" Itaav asked.

Oh how the blond boy just wanted to scream in frustration. Why were they acting so calm about this?

"Oh Link," Zelda came out of the bathroom all chipper, "It just wanted some paper! It's gone now!" She then caught sight of Itaav and her smile broadened a bit. "Oh, hello Itaav! Did you find any information on Pennysworth?"

Itaav smiled at the princess, immediately causing Link to double-take. "As a matter of fact, I did."

What, all of a sudden Itaav wasn't doing his best to make sure the princess knew he didn't like the idea of all this? And why were they still so calm about the whole hand in the toilet thing! "What is _wrong_ with you two?"

They both stared at Link in confusion. Itaav finally let out a sigh, walked up to his friend and smacked him on the face.

It took the Scaler a moment to figure out what had happened.

"Feeling better?" Itaav asked.

"… Sort of…" Link said. He looked to Zelda. "Is… is the hand really gone?"

The girl nodded. "It just wanted some paper and then it disappeared."

Link reluctantly headed over to the bathroom… when he saw that the hand was indeed gone, he shut the door.

"I guess we know why the room was so cheap now." Itaav mused. "I'm actually surprised he didn't go in his pants."

Zelda giggled at that, then she laughed a little harder when Link rushed out of the bathroom – staring at the open door as if it would attack him.

"Anyways, I've got some good news and some bad news." Itaav said, snapping Link out of his fear induced stare-match with the bathroom door. Both blondes frowned at that statement. "The good news is that I know where Pennysworth hangs out. The bad news, someone's after Pennysworth's guts so it's not easy to get to him."

"What does 'after his guts' mean?" Zelda asked innocently.

"It means someone wants him dead," Itaav answered bluntly before Link could answer in not-quite-that-blunt manner.

"Why?" The princess seemed horrified.

"Sit on down, kiddies. I got a story." The Engineer said as he sat down himself. The other two followed suit, Link concerned and Zelda looking worried yet eager to hear Itaav's story. "Pennysworth is Bleak's info go-to guy. He's slimy and disreputable, but that seems to sum up almost everyone here. But his information is supposed to be the best – which is probably why Byrne recommended him. The way Pennysworth goes about getting his information, though…"

"Crap," Link knew what his friend was getting at.

"What?" Zelda asked.

"Pennysworth backstabbed a lot of people to get all the stuff he knows. That's how he was able to get an information empire running. So a lot of people are out to get him. Unfortunately for us, one guy in particular really wants to get at him… and from what I understand, he's not the 'let's be reasonable and talk this out' sort of guy… Not that the people here look the type anyways, but this guy is especially brutal." Itaav explained.

The lone girl of the trio bit her lip nervously. "Brutal… how?"

"They call him Blind for a reason – and it's not because he's blind. The guy has pretty much conquered the whole criminal underworld of Bleak in a matter of months and has started to move up to the overworld just as fast. He's in charge of half the businesses here. And anyone who disagrees with him tends to lose their ability to see or lose a limb or two. In Pennysworth's case, though, he wants to do more than just blind him or take a few body parts." Itaav said.

"So Blind wants Pennysworth dead because he knows too much about him?" Link dragged a hand down his face. "Great…"

"Pennysworth hasn't gone into hiding just yet, though. Apparently, he likes to rub his success in everyone else's faces and thinks he can blackmail Blind into working for him. He owns one of the few high-class bars in Bleak and it's got security up the wazoo – and I checked up that one in person. That place is guarded so tightly right now, I don't know how he's getting business. And for us – three kids who came out of nowhere on a flying machine – we're not getting in without some extra effort on our parts. Especially since people think Blind is going to try and make a move on the Scrub soon."

"So we have to get to Pennysworth as soon as possible." Link thought out loud.

"But how?" Zelda asked.

"That's a question for Link." Itaav said.

"What? Why me?" Link asked.

Itaav merely smiled. "You're a Scaler, aren't you?"

* * *

Yeah, I went there. And let me tell you, I was extremely conflicted on how to write the part about Red. Eventually, I decided to with third person limited from her point of view. Since I have the mentality of a six year old, I couldn't stop giggling from embarrassment. But I did it, and yay! Erm, anyways, Red, much like Zev is not quite an OC. And again, much like Zev, Red represents a character from Zelda II! The lady in red to be exact! She would heal your life - however, she'd do it behind closed doors. And when it's like that, you can't help but get your mind in the gutter. :p Red does have a real name too, though the real name I initially planned to introduce her with comes from a different Zelda game. Eventually, I decided to just reference her as Red. And we will probably never see Red again.

Other fun things: If you watch my DA account, I hope you can understand where I had been going in the comic now. XD I seriously enjoyed writing that scene with the arm. For those of you who haven't played Majora's Mask, at the Stock Pott Inn, during the night, an arm appears out of the toilet pleading for paper. I couldn't resist adding the arm in. Anju is also there, referenced as the redhead managing the counter - I was so tempted to throw Kafei in there too, but couldn't think of how to integrate him; and referenced is Blind from A Link to the Past. And is anyone familiar with Pennysworth? If you watched my DA account back when I was writing _Starcatchers_, then yes, yes you are. XD **  
**

**Midna Hytwilian**, derp, I ended up being less pervy than I originally thought I would be. D:

**j**, thank you~ If there's one thing I can say, it's that I don't get tired of reviews like yours. XD

**XiXIXiX**, NO SOUP FOR YOU. But thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it. As for emotional rollercoasters, teenagers tend to be that way. Not all of them - because I wasn't one - but for Itaav especially, it's kind of like a battle with his subconscious mind. Remember, this fella's the reincarnation of Vaati; it's not only himself not wanting any of this, it's also his subconscious mind rebelling against the fact that he has to protect a person who for centuries had a hand in throwing him into one of the worst fates possible... Hmm, maybe I should've been a bit more specific about that, though. As for your other questions, I can't answer all of them due to spoileriffic content and the fact that I'm evil and want to keep everyone guessing. What I can tell you is that, yes, he will eventually get a sword. Another thing I can tell you is that I really have no plans to follow a game structured storyline. I'm not ruling everything out, as another fanfic of mine was meant to be written as game; I'm just saying, don't try to imagine _this_ story too much like an actual Zelda game. Hmmm, that last line of yours though is filling my head with evil ideas that Link may not appreciate, though. Ohohoho...

**purplegc**, you're gonna be even more pissed to see what time I updated today. 8D That is, if you're still awake. D: Anyways, now you know how I felt when I caught your chapter at 5AM. XD Again, he's still Vaati. And what is Vaati if not a selfish dickhead? As for Bleak, I forgot to mention that Bleak is actually from another series of games. Granted, I changed it up due to radically different geography, but Bleak is based off of a city of the same name from the _Breath of Fire_ series. Bleak was a city of thieves and it was just a pain in the ass to deal with since everyone and their mother was stealing from you. Then again, I suppose Tortuga was like that too - but in this case, Bleak has a significantly less lighthearted tone. D:

That concludes this edition of the chapter. I have no idea when the next update will be, but for now I have to focus my attention on _Forgotten Legends_! So see you all next time - whether it be here or in FL! 8D


	13. The Dancing Cat

You know, despite the long gap between updating, I really hadn't expected to update this today. I wanted to finish_ Forgotten Legends_ before I went ahead and due to a USB scare, in which I thought I had lost my third USB forever and ever and ever, and mourned the loss of the near 3k words I had already written for this chapter...I decided, let me finish this chapter so that if I lose the USB again anytime soon, I won't have to rewrite half the chapter. So yes, I did not lose my USB. My teacher kept it for me because she is just amazing like that.

**fleets**, yup, Blind's in this story. And I think he'll be recurring too. You might like that for reasons I'll reveal next chapter. And yeah, you know Pennysworth. Infamous dango salesman that never made an appearance in _Starcatchers_ but somehow ended up in my DA! XD

**j**, well, I exaggerate of course. And yes, it's insanely difficult to do because I am not used to writing things like that to put online. And whether you're feeling rambly or not j, I always appreciate a review. 8D

**SubZeroChimera**, the more I keep writing, the more chaotic and messy this seems to get. But in a good way. Thanks! 8D

**Purplegc**, durnit! One day you shall suffer as I have... Erm, anyways, but yeah, like I said before, I'm taking a different route to how Itaav 'finds himself' so to speak. And yes, Link is that oblivious. Neither he nor Zelda would have expected that, and I doubt they will ever know what really happened unless Itaav were to tell them. Which I doubt he would because I cannot foresee any situation in which he would have to say he played hide the salami with a hooker. And yes, the hand... If you never found it, then I'm guessing it only appeared when you had the item it needed to trade you for. I honestly don't remember. It's been a while since I played MM.

**Midna Hytwilian**, fff, glad you thought it was beautiful. XD And technically it was just one whore. imthesecondone-shot-

**XiXIXiX**, 1 AM? Wimp. Anyways, I plan on adding elements from as many games as I can pull from. I'm trying to avoid inserting any of my own personal, not-Zelda related OCs, and even some of my own personal Zelda OCs won't be in this story. (Poe: Bitch. Me: shut it!) And I might do omakes. If I do, they will be true comic form omakes and be on DeviantArt, though. And you're welcome. Alleviating boredom is just one of my many purposes on this planet, I believe. XD

* * *

Before Scalers trained on the actual hull walls of _the Pride_, all potentials trained in climbing – both freehand and hitched. And according to Itaav, the security above the bar complex was more lax than the ground floor security. At the same time, Link's friend had also admitted to not being entirely sure, as in order to be positive, he'd have to fly the _Helmaroc_ over the building – which would draw unwanted attention to them. So the shaky plan they had come up with was… well… shaky.

It all depended on Link, really. He needed to climb a nearby building, then get from that building to Pennysworth's bar. He'd have to scale the walls to find a way in, and from there, he'd have to find a way to let Itaav and Zelda in. How that last part was going to happen was a mystery to all of them, however; and Link certainly felt the pressure piling on him. For the moment, the two were just loitering by a nearby shop; but their prolonged presence there would probably be suspicious. The blond boy found himself wishing that they had more time on their hands – but with the news that Blind would make his move soon, they really didn't have time. Sure, it may not have been that soon, but there was just too much uncertainty – and getting into the middle of a gang war was something they all wanted to avoid.

Link let out a sigh from the roof he currently stood upon. Not a few feet away was Pennyworth's bar, The Dancing Cat, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out how he was supposed to get in. The Dancing Cat was three stories – first floor being the actual bar, no doubt. The second and third floors Link could only guess were for Pennyworth's private use. But as a person who'd grown up on _the Pride_, he couldn't understand why anyone would need two floors for themselves. At the moment, that didn't matter, though. The fact was, the buildings on either side of the scrub's bar were only two stories. The only thing Link could think to do was try and jump through a window… And that didn't sound very appealing.

He could make the jump; that was no problem. The buildings weren't that spaced apart – the way Bleak was structured, buildings were practically crammed together. Any alleyways tended to be extremely thin. It was getting a good grip on the building, finding an open window, and not getting noticed by the security below the building that was the real problem. Link quickly peered down into the alley to see a Goron who barely fit in said alley managing to pace up and down. The whole not getting noticed theme of the plan really seemed to scream at him now. Sure, the Goron probably couldn't reach him, but he'd notify everyone to his presence… And if the Goron _did_ manage to get a hold of him…

The Scaler found himself preferring not to think of that at all. But no use dwelling on what ifs. He had to get into the bar and somehow find a way to let his friends in.

Looking to the wall of the building, he had to figure out exactly what he could grab hold to – as well as make his guesses on whether it could support his weight and not cause him to tumble down to the security guard below. The wall seemed to have good footholds… next he had to find an entrance. It had to be easy to get to and not too far… a cracked window. Not fully open, but it was all he could really work with. Again, he looked down into the alleyway, taking careful note of where his shadow would hit when he made his jump to the building. He also had to measure the approximate time it took for the Goron security guard to pace each way.

When Link more or less figured out the rhythm, he jumped, latching onto the slightly protruding bricks of the building. To his extreme relief, he managed to do so quietly too. But no time to congratulate himself; he still had to make it to that slightly open window and get inside before the Goron turned back or either decided to look up randomly or take a break from his pacing. Quickly and quietly as he could manage, he moved himself to the right and then sidled onto the window frame. There wasn't much protrusion there, but he had to work with what was given before the Goron turned around. He took a look through the window, glad to see no confused faces looking back at him. So he pushed up the window quickly, ignoring the horrible sound of wood grating on wood, and jumped in, crouching low to the floor and not daring to look over into the alleyway to see if the Goron noticed or not…

After what seemed like forever, but was perhaps thirty seconds, he chanced looking over. He quickly withdrew his head as he saw the Goron was walking right under him. Apparently, he hadn't been heard – or if he had, he'd gotten in quickly enough to get the security guard thinking he hadn't heard anything important.

Glad that he'd gotten in, Link looked at the room he was in. He was glad to see it was still empty… but he had no idea what possible use the room could have. It was simple with a table and several chairs around it. But other than that, it was completely empty. Perhaps it was a private lunchroom? But what the room was didn't matter – he had to find a way to let Itaav and Zelda in.

Taking a deep breath and mentally preparing himself, he stood up and walked to the door. He opened it a crack, looking out one way then ending out to look the other way. A clear hallway…

_Hunh… Itaav's right about that security – it's killing Pennysworth's business…_ He exited the room, quietly closing the door behind him. Unsure which way to go, he just chose a direction at random and walked. He ended up nearly soiling himself when two people ended up turning the corner. One seemed all too involved in his clipboard, while the other one pestered the clipboarder with questions. Link was about to burst out into a full on sprint the other way, but the two didn't seemed to notice him at all. In fact, even as Link stared them down with the most ungraceful expressions of sheer puzzlement, the two walked past him as if he wasn't even there.

Watching their backs as they continued on, Link couldn't help but think… _This is surprisingly easy…_ Whether that was a good or bad thing was to be seen, though he certainly hoped for it being good. _But I can't keep acting skittish. I just need to… pretend like I belong._

That was going to be easier said than done…

But he took a deep breath and walked down the hall the two men had come from with a confident swagger that was probably fitter for Itaav more than himself. But it seemed to work; he passed a few others as he descended the stairs, some clearly unoccupied. They gave him curious glances but left him alone.

Down the stairs, the Dancing Cat was obviously not as deserted as it appeared from the outside. In fact, it looked a bit busy. There were several groups present by the bar and throughout various tables, as well as a couple of bar servers who reminded Link an awful lot of the girl at the Stock Pot Inn who was constantly running to and fro. He didn't look over there for too long, though. It was too crowded to be able to let Itaav and Zelda inside inconspicuously from the front. He was guessing he might have better luck with a side door… perhaps through the kitchen.

Again, he did his 'I'm blending in' strut and headed towards where the two serving girls had been running out from. But the strut failed him that time. As soon as he had stepped through the doors, he heard a masculine voice behind him saying, "Hey, where do you think you're going, kid?"

Link winced and slowly turned to face the man, a wiry man with a crazy mustache on a irritated face and wearing an even crazier outfit complete with a large frilly collar. "In the kitchen?" The blond answered absently.

"And what business do you have there?" The man said snidely.

"I'm the new busboy?" It was the first thing that came to his head.

The man's irritated expression dropped in favor of one of confusion. But then he seemed to brighten and let out a crooked smile. "Ah yes, the new busboy. I remember hearing something of that, yes. My name is Gorman – I shall be your supervisor from now on."

Link nearly let out a sigh of relief. That was just pure luck…

"But I know we were supposed to get some more employees today. You didn't happen to see them on your way in, did you?"

He tried not to gape. Really? _Really_? "Um, yeah, actually," he said with a nod. He could do this, he totally could. "I know a couple outside, but security wouldn't let them in." He then leaned in a bit closer to the wiry man and whispered, "Really, those Gorons outside – incredibly rude."

Gorman rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it… Anyways, go get the others and come right back in. We've needed you all to show up for a while now – so chop, chop! I'll stay at the door for a minute so you can get in and out without those rock-heads making a fuss – but I don't have all day!"

And with that, Link scurried out. Who would've thought getting into such a security ridden place would be so easy? But then Link thought with pride, _They didn't expect a Scaler to sneak in._

* * *

Zelda fidgeted where she stood by Itaav, who was keeping his attention on The Dancing Cat for any sign of Link. The girl wasn't necessarily impatient more than she was just nervous being out in the middle of Bleak. She had no idea how Itaav didn't seem at all bothered in this place. Even during the day, the place seemed so… unpleasant. At the same time, she was rather grateful he was so calm, if not she'd probably be scared out of her wits. She would have never imagined a place like Bleak could have existed.

She looked up at Itaav and saw he was still focused on the Dancing Cat. From the expression on his face, it looked like he might have been a bit impatient, perhaps even worried. She frowned, then, thinking that maybe it was about time she said something she felt she should've said to him the moment she'd met him on _the Pride_.

"Um, Itaav?" She said shakily.

He turned his head ever so slightly to get a look at her. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry." She paused for a moment, then quickly added, "You know, for all of this. I never meant for you and Link to put your lives on the line for me… for the world, actually. I'm sorry."

The Engineer kept his gaze on her for a moment before looking back towards the Dancing Cat. "Whatever; it's nothing. I was a jerk earlier so just forget about it."

The princess blinked in surprise. For some reason, she hadn't expected him to shrug it off so casually. She had expected some sort of form of talking down to her, maybe even another angry tangent. "But you were so upset yesterday." She blurted out unbelievingly.

He looked back at her a bit puzzled. "Well, yeah. This still isn't my idea of a vacation, princess. I'll be honest and say I still don't want to do it. But I owe Link; helping out in protecting you has to even things out." He explained with a shrug. He also had the distinct urge to say, _Besides, it isn't necessarily your fault more than it is just being born into the worst generation ever_, but he refrained. He wasn't quite sure why he didn't say it, because if anything that would actually make him seem a little less like a jerk. He supposed some part of him was still more than a little spiteful towards her and welcomed the idea of being considered a jerk by her.

"Oh…" she mumbled. That made a lot more sense then. She found it rather odd that he'd be so willing to help after an outburst like the one from yesterday… But her curiosity was piqued and she asked, "You owe Link?"

Itaav took his gaze off the girl, as if her question was something he didn't like to think about. But he nodded and said, "Yeah. He saved my life as a kid."

She had been about to ask what had happened, but before they knew it, Link had come running up to them. "I managed to get in," he said quickly with a smile, "They think I'm a busboy. Come on, I managed to get you guys in too!"

Before either could ask for details, Link turned right on back and began running back to the Dancing Cat. Itaav and Zelda followed, the purple haired boy scowling from Link seeming to be in a rush. The Scaler slowed as soon as he was inside the bar, and the two behind him followed suit. Before they could ask Link what the hurry was, the answer presented itself.

"Ah, you must be the others Link was talking about." Gorman said, stepping in front of the blond boy and blocking their view of him.

Itaav had almost been about to snap at the man, asking what it mattered to him, but Link peered over from behind he man and made a face that said, "play along!" So Itaav managed the best politically correct smile he could muster and said, "Yup. What are we doing?"

Zelda had found herself rather confused as to what was going on, but she mimicked Itaav's smile, figuring he and Link knew what they were doing.

Gorman looked at both of them from left to right, then said to Itaav, "You'll be joining Link in the kitchen…" He gestured for the Engineer to finish.

"Itaav."

"You'll be joining Link, Itaav. Now you two hurry up to the kitchen." Gorman said, making a shooing motion with his hand.

"What?" Link asked, his worried gaze lingering on Zelda.

"You heard me, go on." Gorman repeated, not hiding his annoyance.

Itaav pulled on Link's shoulder, mumbling, "Don't worry. As soon as we're in the clear we'll get her and find the Scrub."

Still, Link's eyes lingered on the princess. She looked a bit worried herself, but nodded for Link to go on. She may not have heard what Itaav had said, but she would do her best not to ruin their chances of staying inside. The blond boy managed a small nod back, mouthing, "We'll get you soon," before he and his friend turned towards the kitchens.

"Now, you two ladies."

Even Link and Itaav had paused for that. They looked back, seeing that Zelda was, in fact, not alone. There was another girl standing right next to herself. She was tall with a winning a smile, chestnut hair tangled into a messy yet appealing braid thrown over her shoulder, decorated with a large red bow, and a terribly cute face. Whoever that girl was must've followed their coattails inside… But why? The fact that they couldn't answer that worried them, but they quickly turned and continued onwards when their 'supervisor' gave them a glare.

"What are your names?" Gorman asked after the boys had left, his tone suddenly more kindly to the females.

Zelda had been a bit too taken aback by the girl next to her to answer immediately, but eventually she said, "Ah, sorry. My name is Marin." Which was a lie. She didn't like that she couldn't use her real name, but as Link and Itaav had pointed out, her normal given name was usually reserved for princesses of _the Pride_ – ergo, it was too uncommon not to raise a red flag. Yes, it could just be coincidence, but it might be a coincidence that would lead Cole or the Gerudo to them.

The cheerful, tall girl then said sweetly, "And I'm Tracy!"

"Marin and Tracy… Gotta nice to ring to it," the mustached man nodded approvingly, "You ladies will be switching in between waitressing and cooking. The waitressing girls don't get off shift for a bit yet, so you can start in the kitchens."

"Um, but Mr. Gorman, sir?" Zelda raised her hand timidly.

"Hmm? Yes, Marin?"

"I don't know how to cook."

Gorman stared at her for what felt like forever. It had actually been a few seconds, and when they were up, he burst out laughing. Seemingly wiping tears from his eyes, he said, "Aha, that's a good one… Now enough jokes, it's time to get to work."

Zelda was about to plead with Gorman, telling him she truly did not know the first thing about cooking, but Tracy put a hand on her shoulder and said to Gorman, "Right away, sir!" Then she guided the girl towards the kitchen, whispering, "Can you really not cook?"

There was something about the whisper that had taken Zelda aback. It almost sounded like a completely different voice. But as she looked up at the taller girl, seeing it was till the same person, she just whispered back, "No…"

With a bright smile, Tracy squeezed her shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I'll help you." That sounded like the Tracy from before; cheery and warm.

As they walked into the kitchen, Zelda caught sight of Link and Itaav, both apparently grimacing by the sinks. She wanted to call out to them, but Tracy was leading her to where the stoves were. She turned her attention to where her area of work would be, only to let out a yelp.

"Is something wrong?" Tracy asked, looking down at her inquisitively.

"A moblin!" Zelda yelped, pointing at a bipedal pig-like beast… who just so happened to be wearing a chef's cap.

Apparently, everyone's attention had been caught by Zelda's display of fear. Everyone stared as they looked between the small blond girl and the chef-hatted moblin now glaring at her. The moblin, who had been overseeing a large pot of soup, marched up to the girl, ladle in hand his eyes angry and beady. "Got a problem with moblins?" He asked lividly, shoving the ladle at her chest every other syllable.

"N-no!" She squealed, shaking her head.

Link desperately wanted to jump in between the princess and the moblin, but Itaav was shaking his head warningly. However, the look on the paler boy's own face was betraying the fact that he seemed to want to go up and tell the moblin to back off as well.

But instead, the tall girl stepped in between them. "I'm so sorry Mister…?"

"Moe." The moblin spat, causing his jowls to quiver unpleasantly.

"Mr. Moe," Tracy continued brightly, "My sister, you see. She doesn't get out much. She's used to the old stories-"

"The old stories are dead." Moe hissed.

Tracy's face went from cute to irritated. "And I told you my sister doesn't get out much." Her voice came out gruff and threatening. "She's very sheltered. The only reason she's even working is because our mother is very sick, and we need the income."

Moe, who went from angry to bewildered as the girl spoke, seemed to get angry again. But it was hesitant, as if he wasn't sure he was upset. Unable to find anything to say, he grunted and went back to his soup. He kept grumbling, though it was probably something in Moblish and therefore was probably saying something very unpleasant in the common tongue. After a moment, he did say, in clear Hylian, "You two start working on the cuccos."

As they made their way towards the counter where a couple of dead, plucked cuccos lay, Tracy hissed, "What's wrong with you?"

"I… I thought moblins were evil?" Zelda whispered back, wide-eyed.

Tracy seemed flabbergasted, but rolled her eyes hopelessly. Zelda watched with grim curiosity as the girl shoved her hand into the neckhole of the cucco and started pulling out innards as if it was an everyday occurrence. "No. Not anymore, anyways. They're just like us – trying to get by in the world." She said tiredly, her voice dropping the cheeriness yet again. The shorter girl wondered if the cheeriness was perhaps an act of some sort… "Now come on, grab the other way and start pulling out gizzards."

"_What_?"

Tracy blinked at her. "You really were serious when you said you didn't know about cooking…" Tracy sighed. "This is going to be a long shift…"

Meanwhile Link and Itaav were sighing their relief by the sinks. They'd forgotten that Zelda had probably never dealt with moblins in her life since she'd never been on the Continent. While moblins were not necessarily evil nowadays, that didn't make them any more pleasant to deal with. They tended to stink to high heaven and had generally horrible personalities. In fact, with the way things had gone just earlier, Moe was positively delightful for a moblin.

"She really is clueless." Itaav whispered to Link.

The blond nodded, not quite willing to vocally admit that his friend was right. "It's not her fault." He finally whispered back.

"Oh I know that," Itaav conceded. "But you'd think the stiffs up in the Inner Wall might have taken some time to tell her that not all the bad guys are bad anymore. They're all about being politically correct up there."

That was enough to have Link pause in his dishwashing and stare at his friend. "I thought you still hated her?"

"Hate's a strong word." Itaav said, carelessly setting a clean dish aside. "She isn't so bad, I suppose. Just clueless. I guess it'd be more accurate to say I hate what we've been dragged into."

But Link hadn't paid any attention at all to the last sentence. Scrubbing down an already clean plate, he found himself mildly distressed that Itaav was admitting to not hating Zelda. In fact, he felt… threatened. Link could admit that he had a bit of a thing for the princess… He had rather been hoping that if Itaav kept acting foul to her, that she wouldn't look Itaav's way as most girls tended to do… Maybe… maybe Zelda would even look his way.

"You've been attacking that plate for two minutes now." The Engineer commented.

Link scowled before putting the plate in the dry rack. Finally, he couldn't keep it in any longer. "Are you… are you interested in her?" He didn't hide the animosity.

Forking an eyebrow, the paler boy merely asked, "Does it really matter?"

"Yes!" The blond hissed. "I… I like her!"

Itaav glanced at his friend, his lip curling evilly. "Is that so? Well, maybe I _am_ a bit interested…"

"I saw her first!" Link said defensively.

"What's your point?"

At this point, Link found himself blushing a bit furiously. "My _point_ is that-" But he stopped when he saw the look his friend's face. The Engineer was looking right past him, towards the hallway. Link followed his gaze and could see why he looked so concentrated.

Gorman was walking backwards, stuttering and acting awfully submissive to someone just out of sight." O-of course, sir!" He was saying, "The new employees just arrived not t-too long ago!"

At this point, a Deku Scrub came into view. He was tall for a scrub, and was wearing a rather flamboyant leafy coat. Waving a woody hand in the air dismissively, the Scrub said in a nasally "better than thou" voice, "Good. People can't complain about lousy service now, can they? Especially that Jensen Widdershins – the man's been trying to run me out of business for years now."

They could hear Gorman laughing anxiously as the two passed out of view, heading for the stairs.

Itaav and Link looked at each other. They didn't need to tell each other they'd just seen Pennysworth. Quietly going back to their dishes, they whispered amongst themselves, trying to figure out how they could slip out of sight and follow Gorman and Pennysworth… not to mention pry Zelda out of Tracy's sight without seeming suspicious – or how to even get the signal across to her.

But luck seemed to be on their side yet again.

"You! Tall girl!" Moe the moblin cried out.

Tracy looked over his way, "Yes?"

"I need an extra pair of hands. Get over here."

With a less-than pleased look on her face, Tracy went over to the moblin. The two quickly became wrapped up in whatever the soup required. Zelda took the opportunity to send a helpless look Link and Itaav's way, holding her arms up in disgust, showing them the cucco blood and flesh currently decorating them.

Both boys gave her looks that said 'get over here now!' It took her a few seconds to realize what they were trying to convey to her, but as soon as she got it, she looked at Tracy and Moe hesitantly. Seeing they were still wrapped up in whatever Moe was up to, she scurried over. She immediately dunked her arms in the soapy water of the sinks, and they quickly explained to her that Pennysworth and Gorman had gone up the stairs.

"So we have to go after them now?" She asked, drying her arms off on her clothes.

"That's pretty much it. Now let's be quick before they notice we're gone." Itaav said, carefully heading back out towards the hall.

"But won't they know we don't work here as soon as we find them?" Zelda asked them as they headed up the steps.

"Ah, we're kind of making this up as we go…" Link confessed. Not adding the fact that the way things were headed, Pennysworth and Gorman wouldn't be very willing to answer their questions. Or that when they were done, they certainly wouldn't be going out the way they came in.

They came up to the second floor, which was just as deserted as when Link had first passed through. From there, they really had no idea where to go. "They could be in any room…" Link mumbled.

"And so can anyone else…" Itaav added.

Zelda frowned. "We could listen at the doors." She suggested. "They could still be talking."

With nothing better to go on, each of them took a door to find either the wrong voices or silence on the other side of them. Gathering together again as soon as they were sure those they were seeking were not on that floor, they agreed to check the third floor. They knew they had to be quick – no doubt Moe the moblin had noticed they'd disappeared by now. So they rushed to the stairs, where at the top they were greeted by a single, ornate door with a sign that said, "The Office of Sir Pennysworth Dillingham Flinderscabbit VIII – Do not enter without permission."

Momentarily forgetting they were in a hurry, they stared at the placard.

"… That must be a pain to write on paperwork." Link said blankly.

Zelda let out a small giggle, but it was silenced quickly when Itaav put a finger to his lips. They listened at the door… and sure enough, they could hear the muffled anxiety of Gorman and the haughty high tone of Pennysworth. Being the closest to the door, Link grabbed the handle and pushed. The door opened ever so slightly, not even letting out the smallest of creaks as it did so. He peeked in and saw the neither Gorman or Pennysworth were in immediate sight. But when he stopped to think about it, if the whole third floor was the 'office' of Pennysworth, it had to be a pretty big office.

He opened the door all the way, and they saw that it was more like a house upon the third floor than an actual office. The room they had just intruded upon seemed like a small foyer. Despite the size, it looked as if came out of a storybook forest and they had been entering a palace made from a tree. If not for the still muffled voices of Pennysworth and Gorman , they would've thought it was completely deserted.

Gingerly stepping through the room, they were following the voices… And found another door. They could hear Gorman moving around behind it (because if Pennysworth truly was the boss, they imagined he would be sitting), and his voice was a bit clearer.

"… absolutely no way Blind would even dare to try and get past those Gorons. You know they wouldn't even let three of the newbies in?"

"Has the thought ever occurred to you that one of them might have been Blind himself?" Pennysworth sounded irritated… and slightly worried.

"Of course not, sir!" Gorman said quickly. "I mean, I listened so intently to your description of him! Not one of them looked a thing like him! There were two boys, both a bit small to be him – not to mention one of them was deathly pale. And then there were two young ladies."

They heard a grumbling they could only assume to be coming from the scrub. And that was also when Link and Itaav had decided that now was as good as any to make their entrance.

They opened the door, finding a sitting room. Much like the little foyer, everything looked expensive and delicate and as if it came straight out of a storybook forest. Gorman was standing, looking aghast the three who'd dared enter. And Pennysworth was, as they had suspected, sitting. He was sitting on a large throne-like chair that seemed to be carved from the trunk of a tree. The Scrub, at first glance, looked absolutely unconcerned. However, there was a muffled wooden, hollow chattering sound that was no doubt coming from his knees slamming together under that large, leafy coat.

"Wha- what are you doing here? You're supposed to be downstairs! In the kitchens!" Gorman stammered indignantly.

"Are you Blind's men?" Pennysworth's voice came out an octave higher than normal, despite trying appear calm and collected.

"No!" Zelda said, sounding slightly offended. "Not at all, we just want your help!"

If their silence meant anything, both Itaav and Link were it meant they didn't believe a word out of the princess's mouth.

"She's right," Link assured, raising his hands up to show he was unarmed and meant no ill will. "We just wanted to get some information and we don't exactly have time to stick around Bleak."

While Gorman still looked frightened, any fear that Pennysworth had was gone. A glint had come into those faintly glowing yellow eyes of his. Steepling his twig-like fingers, the scrub said, "Well… information is what I'm good at. But information isn't free. You either give me information back or show me some rupees-"

"Or," Itaav interrupted, a cold smile upon his face, "I can _not_ send a tornado crashing down on this place." Zelda gave him a look of horror, but Link sent her a look of warning. She couldn't understand why; Itaav had just threatened to destroy the man's livelihood. But she kept her mouth clamped shut and watched the situation unfold.

Gorman spoke in place of his boss this time. "As if you could! Sir, I don't think we have to do a thing for-"

A gust of wind slammed into Gorman and sent the man falling on his back. He quickly sat up, his frilly collar in disarray and his eyes wide in shock. Itaav smirked. Pennysworth merely watched and, if it was possible for a being comprised mostly of wood, went a shade paler. "S-so! Information! This'll be on the house! Y-yes! On the house! What do you want to know?" The scrub's knees were chattering again, and his twiggy fingers were fidgeting like crazy.

"The Gerudo tried to kidnap the princess of _the Pride_. Why?" Itaav demanded.

"Psht, how should I kno-" the scrub began before noting the look on the Engineer's face, "I, I mean… Ah, the Gerudo. Yes, the Gerudo. They need her apparently. The Pirate King seems to think she's of great importance. I heard rumors about something concerning the number three; I don't know what any of it means. They came by asking about her too-"

"Did you say anything?" Link barked.

"What? Of course not, I don't know a thing about _the Pride_!" The scrub cried. "Why are you so interes…" He paused, his gaze falling upon Zelda. The twinkle that had been in his eyes before had returned. "This is all about her, isn't it? That's the princess of _the Pride_!"

"Don't be silly," Itaav scoffed before Zelda could show her alarm. "Her, a princess? Her name's Marin, not Zelda. And why would she be off the Pride? Even Continentals and islanders know that princesses don't leave _the Pride_."

"And why would she be traveling with us?" Link added. "Do we really look like royal guards to you?"

But Pennysworth wasn't buying it. He just shrugged and said with glee, "I don't know and I don't really care. But there's no fooling Pennysworth! That's the princess! The princess off of _the Pride_, off of _the Pride_!"

Well, that wasn't good. Pennysworth was the type to have full confidence in his assumptions.

"Hah. Princess, eh? I'd come just for you Pennysworth, but it looks like I'll get a little trophy too." The voice sounded young and neutral, but surprisingly gruff and threatening. Apparently, Pennysworth's having gone pale earlier wasn't a trick of the light, because he had certainly gotten several shades paler just at the sound of the voice.

The trio looked behind them to see Tracy, smiling triumphantly.

"You idiot!" Pennysworth shrieked at Gorman, clawing at his throne-like chair that offered no immediate means of escape. "You _did_ let Blind in!"

* * *

You know, when I first thought of introducing Blind to the story, I had pictured a huge guy with scars and a 'kill your grandma type of look of look to him. But then I remembered that in ALttP, he disguised himself as one of the maidens. And even though my love for crossdressing males is not what it used to be, I couldn't pass it up. Blind, fearsome leader of bandits... is a crossdresser. Just for this moment, anyways. There will be more to Blind than I'll show off, and despite the fact that he was crossdressing just now... well, if we can look at Vaati and say evil, rest assured we can do much the same for Blind. -w- Whatever the case, I have nothing more to say about this incarnation of Blind until the next chapter.

By the way, Blind assumed the name of the character Crazy Tracy from Link's Awakening. Sort of, anyways. Just took the name, really.

Anyways, next chapter will come some time after _Forgotten Legends_ is done. Until then, see ya.


	14. Moe and Maggie

And so a new chapter of FA. It was quite cooperative. Not really checked for mistakes, so chances are there will be.

**fleets**, hellz yes. There would have been no way I could have replicated that sequence had I lost it forever. D: As for Blind, he's not necessarily an evildoer more than an anti-hero with evil tendencies. In fact... more on that towards the bottom...

**XiXIXiX**, keywords words were crossdresser for the moment, but I suppose you can read on for that. XD And lookie, an update so soon! 8D Oh, and yes, you have heard of Moe. He is not an OC and is actually mentioned in a game... if only in writing.

**Midna Hytwilian**, don't get your hops up. Make up can be magic after all. Doesn't stop him from being a pretty man, though. A man who walks around shirtless, ehehe...

**Purplegc**, derp, don't worry, we'll get into the story later. XD And yes, a moblin cooks the food. And yes, the patrons know, they just don't care. This is the far future in a place where race relations are better mostly because survival in this case means getting along with monsters. And yes, delicious VZ is possible... is that what will happen in the end? Hmmmm, maybe. Much as I may love it, it may not work out for the story, or it might. You never know. So don't feel too bad for Link just yet. Ohohoho... And yes, Tracy was really a man. XD A gorgeous man too, I might add. -shot-

* * *

"B-but," Gorman stuttered, looking from his boss to pseudo-girl in the doorway. "But that doesn't-"

As if to disprove the mustachioed man's words, "Tracy" undid the bow of "her" braid, took the thick ribbon, and wiped "her" face vigorously… and then all of a sudden, it could be believed that there was a man in drag standing in the doorway and not a girl. It was plain to see that there was some element of Tracy on Blind, but the fact was… the things that had made Blind a cute girl had been painted on. However, the true Blind proved that while he may have been a cute girl… he was apparently a drop dead gorgeous man.

The end result was both Link and Itaav looking at Zelda in alarm when she let out a dreamy, "Oh…" She seemed to be rather enchanted by Blind at first glance, with the lightest of blushes upon her face. Both of them stepped in front of Zelda, shielding her from the crime lord's gaze…

The thief sneered at them, but turned his attention back to the cowering Pennysworth. "You were a terrible thorn in my side. And, as I'm sure you well know, I don't like thorns." Despite the words, Blind had spoken as if he was commenting on what excellent weather they were having that day with a smile to match. "And don't you three even think of leaving," the thief said to Itaav, Zelda, and Link without even looking at them. They froze where they stood, because they had been making a slow and steady beeline towards the door. "I'd like to have a few words with you… specifically that pretty little princess of yours."

Again, Itaav and Link stepped in front of Zelda, although Blind still was not looking at them. "Um, Mr. Blind, sir?" The girl piped up from behind the boys, "Could you please let us go? All of us? I mean, I'm sure Mr. Pennysworth is sorry for thinking he could trick you."

"Yes! Yes! S-so s-sorry! It'll never happen again!" In between his stammers of abject fear, the scrub was laughing uncontrollably and his knees were echoing throughout the room. "So, ah, please! Please you… you can take Gorman!"

"WHAT?" Gorman squealed in a voice more fitting for a six year old girl. He had once again fallen on his back, this time most likely from the shock of his boss's desertion, and scooted back into a wall.

But Blind's pleasant expression turned to one of distaste, his steely gaze still upon Pennysworth. "Pathetic little sellout, aren't you, Pennysworth?" From somewhere on his dress, he pulled out knife and began to walk towards the scrub, who was still trapped within his throne-like tree trunk of a chair.

Itaav then stepped forward, apparently tired of standing around doing nothing but listening to the drek Blind had been spewing. It happened before anyone could quite register it… 'it' being a massive tornado crashing through the ceiling and seemingly aiming straight for the crossdresser among their midst. There were screams from all around, Link dove into the massive clouds of debris forming around the room while Itaav just grabbed Zelda by the arm and began to run as fast as he could through the foyer and down the stairs.

"What happened?" Zelda coughed, not really registering anything that had just happened. "Where's Link?"

"He'll catch up," or at least Itaav hoped he would. Once down the stairs and running down the second floor hall, he let her go so they could both run on their own, "Whatever you do, princess, don't stop for anythi-"

Itaav didn't get to finish because the second floor hall was being invaded by gorons rolling near full speed to the stairs to Pennysworth's office. Before Zelda could react, Itaav pulled the girl close to him and they launched upwards, gliding quickly along the ceiling and over the gorons. They crash landed with a hard thud at the end of the hall, near the stairs down… and all Zelda could manage as she picked herself up was a, "You can _fly_?"

The Engineer was just as dumbfounded as the princess, unable to find words despite the fact his mouth was moving. But it seemed fate didn't want him to answer, because that moment, the ceiling began to break apart. Both Itaav and Zelda rushed down the stairs, nearly tumbling towards the end when the ceiling crashed down.

They gaped at the chunks of wall and other debris falling down the stairs after them, their minds on Link and what became of him. They didn't care that people in the tavern were screaming and making a rush for the doors, nor did they care that Moe the moblin was roaring at the tavern goers to calm down. They just watched the dust pour out in clouds from the staircase.

"Is… is he…?" Zelda choked.

At first, she thought Itaav hadn't heard her. But then he pointed at a shadow in the dust cloud.

Gorman ran past them, clothes torn, bloody and screaming shrilly. They looked back to the dust cloud, hoping that perhaps Link would be next. Their wish was granted… sort of.

Link came running full speed out of the dust cloud carrying what seemed to be an unconscious Pennysworth. Link was, also a bit bloody, was looking just as terrified as Gorman had acted. "Run, run, run!" Link cried out at the two, though the way he said it sounded more like "Runrunrun!"

They did not question him, especially since they could hear a horrible scream coming from the dust cloud. Sure enough, just right after they started sprinting after their friend, Blind came bursting out from the cloud. And he most certainly did not look happy. In fact, all that rage and bloodlust was making him look barely human. Neither did he sound human as he roared, "PENNYSWORTH – I WILL _SLAUGHTER_ YOU!"

The good news about the panic in the Dancing Cat was that with all the people scrambling and rushing to get out, all those extra bodies would slow Blind down. The bad news about the dancing Cat was that all the people scrambling and rushing to get out were slowing Link, Itaav, and Zelda down. And Itaav did not dare try and knock the crowd down via wind magic, as that would clear the way for the murderous thief behind them. Quite frankly, he was abit terrified to think about what attempting to knock Blind down with the wind would do. It would slow him down yes, but Itaav was sure it wouldn't help the man's already murderous mood.

"Do we go to the _Helmaroc_?" Zelda asked, her voice barley carrying over the screams of the crowd and Moe's continued roars for calm.

"How much does he weigh?" Itaav asked Link, referring to the Scrub on his back.

"Not as heavy as he looks but not nearly as light as you'd think, either." Link said, his voice shaking as they began to wriggle through the congestion towards the doors. They could hear frustrated and frightened screeches behind them. "Crap, he's catching up," Link muttered.

"I don't know if the _Helmaroc_ can carry all four of us." Itaav said through gritted teeth.

The discord behind them was getting louder, and they rushed to squeeze through those in front of them. With great effort, they pushed out of the crowd and to the outside, where everyone and their mother seemed to be running around everywhere – the only difference was that this time there was space to do so. Before any of them could even ask where they were going, they just began to run. However, Link was slowing down – the weight of Pennysworth finally taking its toll upon him.

Pausing, Itaav said, "Quick, hand him over."

Without question, Link stopped to hand over his burden. However, at the very moment that Link was putting Pennysworth on his friend's back, Zelda let out an "eep" and pointed to where they had come from.

Sure enough, Blind was charging right behind them with a blade glittering in his hand, snarling strings of sentences that would've made sailors gasp with disgust. All three of them panicked, both Zelda and Itaav trying to think of some magic quick enough to keep Blind from them while Link found himself really wishing he had his machete. But when it seemed too late, their good luck returned once again…

In the form of Moe the moblin. The pig like being quickly stepped in front of their little group, took a step a forward towards the oncoming Blind, and then quite simply punched the thief with a mighty roar. The blow sent the man flying back through the air. Mouths gaping, they saw Blind crash into a stack of crates at least ten feet away.

"Follow me!" Moe barked at them. "Bring Mr. Pennysworth! Quick!"

After such a display, they did not dare disobey the moblin. With Itaav now carrying the still unconscious business scrub, they tailed the moblin through the streets of Bleak, gradually entering more and more rundown area of the town. Eventually, Moe had led them into a section of the town that was so rundown and unpleasant, it made the Outer Wall of _the Pride_ look like the most lavish of places. The only difference was that this place was deathly quiet. Had it not been for the fact that they had seen windows shut at the sight of their little group, they might have thought this was an abandoned part of town.

Eventually, Moe stopped at a particularly run down looking little house and opened the door. "Come inside," he said gruffly as he ducked through the doorpost to get in. Itaav and Link exchanged wary looks, but Zelda followed without hesitation. Grudgingly, they entered just in time to hear Moe call out, "Maggie, I'm home."

Again, Link and Itaav exchanged looks. This time, however, they were both grimacing, obviously dreading the idea of seeing a female moblin. To their surprise, a Hylian girl perhaps Zelda's age had come scurrying down from the stairs. She wasn't a particularly pretty girl – one might say she was downright ugly. She had the look of a girl who'd been through a lot of bad things in a short span of time. Nonetheless, the girl was ecstatic to see the moblin. She practically threw herself at Moe, embracing him happily and tightly before-

Itaav and Link merely turned their gazes away in horror. The girl and the moblin were _kissing_.

Zelda, however, smiled warmly and said softly, "Oh, how _romantic_."

That was not the word the Scaler or the Engineer would have used.

"Oh Moe, who are your friends?" Maggie asked after she had finally let go of her husband and realized that there were other people present.

"Maggie, the Dancing Cat is gone." Moe told the girl, who had let out a gasp.

Itaav grimaced. It wasn't _completely_ gone…

"Is… is that Mr. Pennysworth?" Maggie had noticed the leafy bundle on Itaav's back. "_Oh Moe_! What happened?" But as quickly as she question the moblin, she looked to the pale boy. "Oh come on, hurry up, Mister! We need to put him in the room!"

She went back up the stairs, and Itaav followed, with Moe just behind, explaining the events at the Dancing Cat as he had had them. The house was so small, even Zelda and Link heard the moblin's words. Apparently, from downstairs, it felt as if an earthquake had hit. But when the third floor collapsed, people immediately felt in danger for their lives (moreso than when they had thought an earthquake was going on, anyways) and began to panic. Moe had tried to control the crowd inside of the bar, but there was just too much craziness. He then mentioned how he caught sight of Link, Itaav and Zelda with Pennysworth, and immediately made chase, and how he had stopped Blind from potentially murdering all of them.

"Will Mr. Pennysworth be alright?" Zelda asked worriedly after the story was done with.

"I think so," Maggie said, "It looks like he just got a bump on the head, but scrubs are always hard to tell because they're so… scrubbish, I suppose."

No one asked further, as Maggie had pretty much summed it up. No one there was really familiar with scrub anatomy and physiology.

"I knew there was something off about that girl, though." Moe mumbled, glancing at Zelda. "Guessing that she wasn't really your sister, eh?"

With a guilty flush coming across the princess's face, she shook her head. "I didn't know, though…" She said quietly.

"If I didn't figure that out, I wouldn't have brought you here." Moe growled.

"Be nice, Moe," Maggie snapped, to which the moblin merely grumbled something in Moblish that earned him a glare from his wife.

"How…" Link began, looking from the wife to the husband. "How did…"

But Maggie seemed to know what he was getting at, for her eyes brightened. "Oh yes, it is a bit unusual I suppose, seeing a couple like us. A few years ago I had been kidnapped by a gang because my father had some gambling debts." She lovingly held onto her husband's arm. "Moe was the one who made it all bearable – and he eventually helped me escape. And then Penny was nice enough to give my Moe a job, so we've been able to live happily together!"

"That's _so_ romantic!" Zelda said, so amazed that she'd forgotten her earlier embarrassment.

Again, Link and Itaav exchanged looks that said 'romantic' was not the word they had been looking for.

Apparently, Moe was not liking the conversation much either, so he sent a glare to their three guests and then snarled, "I know you three weren't supposed to be at the Cat – and then you disappeared before that snake got away from my sight. But you saved Mr. Pennysworth, so I shouldn't ask what went on. But we don't got room for you here."

Maggie, despite the protesting look on her face, did not say anything. And they all knew it wasn't because Moe had been lying. "The thing is…" Itaav had begun, "We kind of can't leave without Pennysworth."

Zelda looked at the Engineer with a confused look, and became even more confused when she saw that Link didn't look puzzled either. But then it dawned her too. It was because Pennysworth knew that she was the princess of _the Pride_. And if he knew that, he would sell that information to anyone who came looking. Though Zelda was quite sure as soon as they explained everything to him, he would be happy to keep the secret.

Itaav and Link, on the other hand, knew that wasn't the case. Much as they hated to think it true, Blind was right in calling Pennysworth a 'pathetic sellout.' They knew his type – the type that had a price for _everything_ and had a sense of self-preservation large enough to make a roach jealous. If the Gerudo came asking again, Pennysworth would give them the information they wanted, whether they paid him or threatened him. The potentially worse situation, however, would be if Cole came and asked Pennysworth about Zelda. Either way, the scrub was a loose end… and Link wasn't quite sure how they were supposed to handle it.

Itaav had an idea, though. Several actually, one of which was eerily similar to what Blind had tried to do earlier. However, that was something that would be a bit of a last resort method. He rather hoped it wouldn't have to resort to that, because he was quite sure the moblin whose roof they were under would not appreciate it. At least, that was the impression he got after seeing what had happened to Blind.

"And what makes you think he isn't safe here?" Moe asked irritably.

"We're not worried about his safety so much as we're worried about hers," Link said, gesturing to Zelda.

The moblin seemed to have an idea of what they were getting at immediately. "It's Mr. Pennysworth's job to get info on people."

"Yeah, well, he just found out the kind of secret that can get him killed…" Itaav then paused and added, "Well, aside from the ones he already knows about Blind."

Moe continued to glare at them, but Maggie whispered something in his ear. He let out a grumble in Moblish and then Maggie looked at them and said, "You can talk to Penny when he wakes up."

* * *

Blind was in pain. But then again, not many could take a punch from a moblin and not be in pain. He couldn't quite understand why everything was so dark, though. Or why he felt as if a pile of broken wood was on top of him. He heard scuffling and things seemed to get brighter. There was a muffled sound and then all of sudden, he was up on his feet, being supported by two of his men.

"_Can you hear me, Boss_?" One of them yelled into his ear.

A punch to the face answered the subordinate's question quite quickly. The other subordinate immediately stepped away. Blind, senses returning, brushed his fist off and then looked down. He was still in that goddess-forsaken dress. He'd forgotten he was wearing it earlier. He tore it off; partly out of frustration, partly because he just wanted it off. But it was mostly frustration. He wasn't used to failure. Or more accurately, he himself wasn't used to failing. _And that's fucking irritating as hell._ He spat in his mind. Nonetheless, the removal of the dress made him feel loads better. He didn't know how women did it, wearing those things all the time. They were terribly inconvenient when compared to a nice sensible pair of pants – though if you were wearing a skirt over pants, it didn't make life any easier.

"Ah, what happened, sir?" Asked the subordinate who hadn't been punched. The one that had been punched was currently writing on the ground, gasping in pain over what he could only guess was a bloodied and broken nose.

"Do you really need to ask?" There was a surprising calm to his voice, though it did have the tiniest bit of irritation.

"Oh… I'm sorry to hear that, sir…"

"Sorry won't get us anywhere. Besides, it wasn't a complete failure."

The man with the broken nose slowly got up, holding his bloodied nose gingerly. "Id wabint?" He asked.

"No. And with any luck, that little trophy is still hanging around him too." The thief said with a smirk.

They followed their leader as he began to walk away from his 'landing' sight. They did not comment on his limp or his own set of cuts and bruises, plainly visible on his bare back, as he would not be very pleased if they were mentioned. But they did look at each other, wondering what their fearless leader was talking about. One of them finally asked, "Trophy?"

"Oh yes. Pennysworth found a lovely little trophy… A pretty little princess. And I intend to claim that trophy."

The mouths of the subordinates turned into O's of understanding before turning into mischievous smiles probably more appropriate for six year old boys. Boss found himself a _girl_. Which wasn't unusual. When you were an up and coming soon to be king of the criminal kingdom of Bleak, girls came and went. But this girl was a _princess_. So if the boss married a princess, he really _would_ be a king. And how many would-be crime lords could claim _that_… aside from the Gerudo, but those were _pirates_.

The fact was, if the boss married a princess and became a king, no upstarts like Pennysworth would dare try to get the better of him. They'd be in their proper place, yes they would! At least, that's what they were thinking. Boss's plans usually had something more – mostly because he thought big. Grunts like them always thought small… But still, the boss being a king! That was cool!

Just one problem… "Um, but Boss… where'd Pennysworth and that princess go?"

Blind paused to turn back and look at his subordinates. He looked quite smug as he held up a pretty leaf that wasn't native to any of the trees on Bleak. In fact, it looked like it was probably more appropriate for a tree that could be found on the Continent, in the big forests. "I told you it wasn't a complete failure."

Again, the lackeys' mouths turned into O's of understanding. That's why the boss was so great! He was always one step ahead of everybody! And here he was with one of those leaves from Pennysworth's obnoxious coat! All they needed was a Wolfos! And they had three specially bred ones imported from the Snow Region of the Continent because the Boss said "you never know when you might need to use a mutt's nose." What foresight!

"Dat's abazing Bohth!" Exclaimed the broken nosed lackey.

"Of course it is." Said Blind proudly before sticking the leaf back in his pocket. "Did you expect anything less?"

They didn't answer, mostly because they knew it was a rhetorical question. Blind didn't hire no idiots, after all. They were, however, smiling goofily as they followed theirboos back to the base – because there was just no beating Blind and his gang!

* * *

Itaav, Link, and Zelda had retreated to the roof of Moe and Maggie's tiny home. It was the only place they could get any sort of privacy, as the inside of the small little house really didn't know anything such as privacy. When they were pretty sure neither Maggie nor Moe had their ears under them in hopes of catching something they said, they had begun to talk about what exactly had happened.

"You did the tornado, right?" Link asked Itaav.

"Yeah… I didn't expect it to pack that much of a punch, though…" The Engineer confessed.

"But what happened after the tornado hit, Link?" Zelda asked, honestly curious.

The Scaler's face contorted several times in the short span of time he was trying to come up with an answer. "I… I'm not entirely sure." He said sheepishly. "It was really dusty; all I knew was that I had to find Pennysworth before Blind got to him. I crashed into Gorman but he wasn't any help… I think he might have peed himself, honestly. But I found Pennysworth. He was already knocked out – blown against the wall pretty hard, I'd guess. That tornado was still going at Blind, but…" Link shuddered. "That guy is scary determined. He was fighting it; like grabbing the fixtures on the wall and dragging himself towards Pennysworth as if it was the only thing he had to look forward to in life."

The mere thought alone was enough to make Itaav and Zelda shudder as well. Clearly, the situation was getting worse and worse the more they analyzed the amount of bloodlust that the thief contained.

"Oh, Itaav, with all that chaos, I never did find out." Zelda said, "Since when could you fly? I mean, if you already can, the _Helmaroc_ seems rather pointless, then."

Link stared at his friend confusedly. Itaav also seemed just as confused, mostly because he'd forgotten all about that. Truthfully, he didn't even know how that situation onf the second floor hall of the Dancing Cat really happened. It just did… so all he said was, "I didn't know I could…" He thought for a moment and added, "I don't think I can again. It was all spur of the moment."

"But if you did it once, surely you can do it again." The princess pointed out matter-of-factly. "You could try it right here."

Itaav looked from the princess to over the roof, then back to the girl. "Yeah, I'd rather not risk breaking both my legs for an ability I may or may not have. That's just me." He mentioned offhandedly. Link was nodding in agreement.

Absently, the girl put a finger on her lip, seemingly in thought. "Oh… when you put it like that then, I suppose it isn't a good idea…"

The boys said nothing, as they were getting quite used to the princess's odd thought process.

Silence seemed to be the way to go then. None of the three said a word, really unable to find anything they could speak of without leading to, "we need to get out of here as quickly as possible." However, the silence wasn't making the roof anymore comfortable. And it wasn't comfortable to start with the heat of Bleak. While the home was small enough so that it was shaded by taller buildings, Bleak had an uncomfortable heat resulting from the shoddy layout of buildings and the fact that it was just a naturally humid and warm place, made even more humid by the constant fog surrounding the island. So with the discomfort and the silence, time seemed to inch by.

After a moment, they heard the trap door to the roof open. They looked back, seeing Maggie's head pop up from below. "Penny's awake. You can talk to him now, if you'd like."

"Yes, please." Zelda said.

With that, Maggie retreated back down into the house and the three followed suit. It wasn't hard to get to Pennysworth this time, mostly because the room that contained the ladder to the roof and the bedroom were connected.

The scrub was on the bed, twiggy arms crossed and looking remarkably unhappy. He looked over to Maggie, who raised her eyebrows in a "you're not getting out of this" fashion, and then nodded to the trip before leaving.

You want a thank you? Well fine then, thank you!" Pennysworth hissed, snapping his head the other way to avoid their gazes.

Link jabbed an elbow into Itaav before he could say anything damaging, which it looked like he was very well about to. "We didn't come for a thank you," Link said.

The scrub huffed before warily looking to the group. "What do you want then?"

"Please, Mr. Pennysworth," Zelda stepped up, "It's very important you don't tell anyone about me."

"Feh. No can do, missy. I'm an information broker, it's what I do." He said, haughtily puffing his chest out.

"And that's the problem; you'll sell us out the moment we leave, which isn't good for us." Itaav said, an edge to his voice.

"So?"

"So? There _is_ a reason she's off ship – and it's worse than anything Blind has in store for you. He's worse than the Gerudo too." The Engineer said.

"Pfft, worse than _death_? _Puh-lease_!" The scrub said sarcastically.

"How about dying slowly?" Link added.

Pennysworth wavered for the smallest of moments before puffing his chest out again. "Hah, nice try! It's not going to work!"

"He killed Gerudo." Zelda said. Even Link and Itaav looked back at the girl, not expecting her to say anything. She looked grimly solemn, and her blue eyes were set right into the scrubs golden ones. The scrub had frozen solid, seemingly paralyzed by her gaze. "He killed them and fashioned a fake corpse from what he could use of them, then tossed the rest out. He tried to kill Itaav and Link too. You could sell him the information on me and then he'll kill me as well. And that isn't very honorable, Mr. Pennysworth. It's downright despicable and I imagine he'd kill you too once he got what he wanted to hear!" Her voice had grown from steady to something reminiscent of a schoolteacher. She didn't look distraught either, just incredibly frustrated. Needless to say, both boys found themselves impressed – Itaav even more so because he simply hadn't expected the girl had that in her.

Had Pennysworth been human or Hylian, his mouth might have been opening and closing awkwardly. Instead, his snout just quivered awkwardly, unable to find the proper noises to make words. Finally, he managed to spurt out a very shaky and high voice, "Th-th-that's n-not t-true! You're still t-trying t-to s-scare m-me!"

"_Goddesses_, will you just promise to keep your trap shut already?" Itaav yelled.

"_Never_!" That came out of Pennysworth's snout so clearly and quickly, it had to be a trained response.

"You know, if you're like this all of the time, it's a miracle you're still alive." Link said, not at all sure if he was amazed or frustrated by the stubbornness that the scrub was displaying.

Itaav, who was squeezing the bridge of his nose in irritation, growled, "Yeah, I'm beginning to understand why Blind wants to kill him."

Zelda, brow knit into a deep furrow, gave an almost pouty look before saying, "You're acting incredibly… incredibly…" she seemed to be struggling with the word she wanted to say, but she eventually spurt it out, "-_stupid_!" A quickly as she had said it, she slapped her hands over her mouth, looking horrified. "I… I'm sorry!"

Link noted Itaav was struggling with all his might not to say something along the lines of, 'Don't insult someone and then take it back!' It was actually quite amusing for the blond to watch his paler friend's face contort in resistance. It almost looked as if it was physically paining Itaav not to say it.

But Link put his attention back on Pennysworth, who was again avoiding their gazes and staring at a particular piece of wall. Despite his apparent stubbornness, his attempts to keep his own eyes from the teens were half-hearted now. It wasn't ten seconds later that Pennysworth faced them again and burst out, "I'm not promising anyth-"

The scrub was cut short by three piercing howls echoing off from not far away. It was enough to make everyone in the room freeze, though for the three Hylians it was more out of confusion. They'd never heard Wolfos, so they weren't quite getting why Pennysworth's knees were clattering. And as if to confirm the scrub's worst fears, Moe ran into the room and shouted, "Blind's Wolfos! You all need to get out of here!"

"Wolfos? But those live in the Snow-" Zelda was about to recite a whole page she'd read from a book, all about how it was impossible for Wolfos to be all the way on the Sea, but she was silenced when Itaav had taken her by the wrist and rushed her down the steps. She barely let out a yelp before they were out of the small house, Link following close behind with Pennysworth on his back. She hadn't quite heard what had went on, but did manage to hear Link saying, "Can you at least _try_ to calm down? Your knees are jabbing my ribs!"

She wished she could have said goodbye to Moe and Maggie, but she, Itaav, and Link were running through the thin alleys of the decrepit street. And then the howls returned. Itaav cursed, but she felt the magic course around him just as a light breeze headed off to the sides, then all around and up and down. She understood… the wind going in different directions might throw off their scent. That was smart but… from the look on Itaav's face, it was obviously a temporary fix.

"Where will we go?" She asked, struggling to keep up right after Itaav had released her.

"No choice; the _Helmaroc_." The Engineer said.

"A hemy-whats?" Pennysworth had said. He was promptly ignored, however.

"But what about not being able to carry-"

"No choice, remember?" Itaav snapped. Just under his breath he added, mostly to himself, "Goddess _damn_ do I hate running…"

They could hear barking behind them, but they somehow all managed to find the strength to keep running. But the Wolfos seemed to be catching up to them all too quickly. They were beginning to hear paws catching up to them, and deep down they knew that eventually their legs would give out.

Link, having the most weight on him because of Pennysworth, was the first to let out a yelp as a Wolfos made a snap at one of his legs. Luckily, he hadn't lost his balance and managed to pick up more speed. However, that now made Zelda the slower target due to her shorter frame and in general lack of athletic ability. But she kept running, fearing for the worst as the Wolfos came up behind her and… ran right around her and back towards Link. They didn't want her…

"Link! They only want Mr. Pennysworth! Keep running!" She shouted.

At that moment, Itaav turned on the ball of his foot and sent three well aimed gusts of wind at the Wolfos. The canines howled in surprise and twirled in the air.

"P-princess!" Link gasped, obviously exhausted from running. But despite that, he kept going. "C-can you warp us… s-somewhere?"

"I-I don't – I mean, yes I can!" Now was not the time for self-doubt, she told herself. Her last two warps had been short of disastrous, but they were all dead tired from running. They couldn't keep this up. And the Wolfos were already picking themselves up.

"What? Warping, I don't think-"

But she had grabbed Link, and Itaav skidded to a halt to catch the girl's other hand. _The_ Helmaroc_,_ she thought. _We have to get to the_ Helmaroc_._

"Farore's Wind!"

* * *

A man crossdresses once and all of a sudden everyone thinks he's a regular drag queen. Blind is not, in fact, a regular crossdresser. He just has this habit of when he really wants someone dead, he likes to do it himself no matter what the cost. In fact, a good chunk of Blind's characterization is derived from the Time Spinner - or to be more accurate, TS's male mortal offshoot. For those of you have no idea who the Time Spinner is, all you need to know is that if Blind's characterization has any relation to him... then Blind himself is a downright nasty person. And it is my regret that I didn't get to show it off as much as I would've liked this chapter, but the Blind arc isn't done and we will be seeing more of him... even possibly after the arc is done.

Anyways, Moe and Maggie, from the sidequest in WindWaker. You only ever see Maggie, only hearing anything about Moe through letters. In the game, he actually wanted to eat Maggie, but it ended up a bit different here, as you can see. I have to admit, I had much the same reactions that link and Itaav had as I wrote those scenes. Nonetheless, I'm vaguely interested in perhaps doing a oneshot involving this particular Maggie and how she meets Moe and so on and so forth. It seems like it would be interesting to do, if not a bit wince inducing in a sweet way.

Also, Pennysworth was so stubborn, even I was surprised at his resistance. And this is my character. D:

Um... if I had something else to say, I don't remember. Too sleepy. So I go to sleep now. -w-


	15. Trapped

Chapter 15. It went through a couple of revisions and I'm still not entirely satisfied with it... but it'll do. Nothing I'll lose sleep over and I can't even really place what I don't like about it. Review responses and more chattiness at the bottom.

Also, FFN's doing weird things to my chapter. I AM NOT PLZD PLZ.

* * *

The warp was not a disaster. Which was a good thing. They had landed with their feet on the ground just a few feet away from Itaav's precious airship. The Engineer could not have been more grateful to see it safe and sound, even though there were a good deal of scorch marks circling it where his barrier was. He dispelled the barrier, rushing to the ship and making sure it was all right – not that it wouldn't be. It had just felt like forever since he last saw his dear _Helmaroc_.

He looked back at Link and Zelda, who both seemed to be busy gawking at the fact that Zelda's warp did not seem to involve anyone crashing from the sky or anyone needing to be used as a crash sight. Pennysworth, still upon Link's back, was just looking around, apparently looking for words to try and explain what happened but unable to.

"Aren't we in a hurry?" Itaav reminded them.

That brought Link and Zelda back to reality, and whether it brought the scrub back didn't really matter much. They filed into the _Helmaroc_ as Itaav took his place at the pilot's seat. He tried not to think of weight limits, at the moment, as the airship had more than enough weight when it was just three people.

"What is this _thing_?" Pennysworth finally sputtered.

"Hopefully the _thing_ that will keep Blind from murdering all of us." Itaav growled.

"Don't call it a thing in front of him," Link whispered to the scrub on his back. "He loves this piece of-"

"Call it a piece of junk and I'll gladly start throwing folks overboard." Itaav said over his shoulder.

"I don't think it's a piece of junk." Zelda chimed.

"Thank you, princess," Itaav said proudly. "Now if everyone would just stay quiet for a bit, I might be able to fly us out of here sometime today."

"This _flies_?" Pennysworth said skeptically. Link rolled his eyes and then dropped the scrub, who landed on the floor of the now very cramped airship very ungracefully. "Hey!"

"Oops."

"You did that on purpose!" Pennysworth accused.

"Oh children – what did I say about _quiet_?" Itaav barked angrily. At the rate things were going, he'd never be able to concentrate. But the two did quiet down back there, and he was grateful for it. With some relative silence, he could sense around for the feel of the wind around Bleak. He got a lock on an updraft nearby… he just needed to take off by himself. Well, the good thing about that was that it was getting easier the more often he had to do it – which seemed to happen a lot more than he had anticipated. But that didn't matter – they just needed to leave.

The only problem with Bleak was that there wasn't anything he could use as an air strip. "Hang on – we're in for a messy take off."

And those were the magic words the pushed Link's panic button. "Messy?" He squeaked.

"Hang on to _what_?" Pennysworth chided.

But Zelda didn't even question it; she had immediately held onto the support beam that Itaav's pilot's seat rested against. After their first adventure in the _Helmaroc_ where she was left wondering what there was to hang on to, she figured it was best not to be picky. Aside from the ledges, there was nothing else to hang on to. And Link and Pennysworth had realized that quickly enough as well, and struggled to get better grips than the other on the single support beam. Itaav realized he really needed to work on adding some back seats if he ever got the chance… and if the foundations of the _Helmaroc_ could handle it.

Link and Pennysworth had managed to get satisfying holds on the beam, and just in time. As soon as they felt secure, they immediately felt insecure as the _Helmaroc_ did a very ungainly leap upwards. The scrub screamed and almost let go of the beam, but he held on even tighter as he felt that the blasted contraption they were in was _falling_. "What kind of convoluted deathtrap is this?" He shrieked.

Itaav felt something unpleasant flare up inside of him when his beautiful ship was called a deathtrap. But instead of snapping and potentially killing them all, he used that ugly flash of anger to fuel the gust of wind that would carry his not-deathtrap to the updraft they needed to get out of Bleak. He pulled on the steering wheel so the wings of the airship were like parachutes on the sides. The wind he'd summoned assaulted the ship and caused it do an incredibly frightening lurch backwards. But the wings caught the wind and the airship rose higher. The wings leveled out and Itaav began to pedal at the bike pedals at the front of his seat like a madman, causing the wings of the ship to flap and letting them all gain some altitude, while he conjured up another wind to guide them towards the updraft.

They all felt a wave of relief come over them as the _Helmaroc_ easily fell into the updraft. Even Pennysworth managed to shut up, though he still held onto the support beam as if it were the only thing keeping him standing… and it probably was. Whatever the case, they allowed themselves to relax… because they were safe up in _Helmaroc_, gliding lazily in circles higher and higher…

And then everything went horribly wrong.

A giant, metal arrow attached to a rope flew up and pierced right through the _Helmaroc_'s left wing. Itaav let out a cry of horror at the sight, and Link and Pennysworth just gaped silently in their horror. Zelda was the one who went, looked over the side, and cried, "A ballista!"

"_What_?" Link asked, now adding confusion to his horror. He had no idea what a balli-whatsits was, even though it was one of those terms he felt he was supposed to know. And he never found out. Before Zelda could even begin to think of an answer, the arrow that had launched at them fell downwards, snagging on one of the iron rods of the wing and dragging it down instantly.

There were screams from everyone as they flailed within the small space of the _Helmaroc_. What was the most frightening was the fact that the airship was being pulled down faster than they were falling, so when they tumbled it was against the rods and wings of the _Helmaroc_. Pennysworth had the worst luck as he tumbled. The scrub, who looked as if he was tossed ragdoll, was clipped on his head by the giant arrow. Several leaves scattered and flew around the air, along with a splutter of thick, sappy liquid that they could only assume was Pennysworth's blood. It had happened so quickly, in the span of perhaps five or maybe even six seconds, yet it felt like hours slowly crawling by.

But things seemed to go in real time all too quickly. Zelda screeched again, an even more terrified scream than before. Sure enough, when Link had looked around, Zelda had slipped outside of the _Helmaroc_ and was now flailing wildly in the air outside of it. "_Zelda_!" Link shouted. He attempted to reach for her, but the _Helmaroc_ dragged him downwards.

Zelda had reached out as well, desperate to reach the falling airship, to reach the people inside. She saw Link extending his hand to her. She wanted to grab it… but the arrow stuck in the wing of the ship was yanked violently and the airship lurched downwards. She screamed louder, more out fear for those still in the ship than herself. Then she remembered herself and how she was likely to be a stain on the pavement in mere moments.

Something blurred right at her and yanked her away. She tumbled on a rooftop as she heard a horrible crash. Zelda gasped at the sound, realizing that the sound of the crash had come from the _Helmaroc_. Tears streaming down her face, she looked around like a madwoman for signs of the ship on a nearby rooftop but saw nothing. There were screams and shouts from down below… so the airship had crashed on the ground.

She choked on her breath. _Link! Itaav!_ She thought frantically. Were they all right? Were they… _No… No they're okay… Oh goddesses, please be okay._ Zelda scrambled up with every intention of running towards the ledge to look over and attempt to see the crash. But she wasn't able to. Just as she had risen, she felt a hand like a vice grab onto her arm and jerk her back. Soon, she was being held back by both arms feeling like they were both about to be crushed. "Let me go!" She cried out, attempting fight back.

But Blind's grip tightened further and he whispered into her ear, "Keep squirming and I'll break your pretty little arms."

She froze, turning her head ever so slightly to look up at the thief who had saved her. Again, he had displayed the unnerving skill of being able to say something so threatening while looking absolutely pleasant and unconcerned. It was frightening.

"Boss!" A man had appeared from a door on the roof they were on. "They crashed real ugly; we think they're dead."

Zelda made a choking noise, but neither Blind nor his crony seemed to notice. "Thinking is one thing. Look through that wreckage and get proof. I want to see bodies." Blind snapped.

"No!" Zelda screeched, again trying to worm her way out of the crime lord's grasp. But his hands tightened around her arms again, and with a yelp of pain she stopped.

The crony from before then seemed to have just noticed Zelda. Brightening considerably, he began, "Oh wow, Boss! Is that-"

"Bodies. _Now_." Blind snarled. The henchman paled and then turned quickly to get the word out.

And then it was just Blind and Zelda. His grip never loosened. There was only one question on her mind, and she wasn't sure she wanted the answer. She asked anyways, "What are you going to do with me…?"

"I won't hurt you if you cooperate. The keyword being _if_." Said the thief. He then let her go and stepped back.

The princess did not move, finding herself afraid to do so. She had at least known Cole well enough to stall him… But she had no idea what Blind was like aside from reputation… and his threats about breaking her arms. If she tried to run now, what would he do? What about warping? Oh, but where would she go? Back to Maggie and Moe's? No, she couldn't bring them anymore trouble now… That and she wasn't sure she had the strength to do so… She needed to find Itaav and Link… if they were… She felt tears stinging her eyes again. She made to look over her shoulder, but paused halfway, unsure as to whether she really wanted to look at Blind's handsome face. She was fearful of his answer to her next question…

"What will you do if… if my friends are alive?" Her voice shook.

Blind's answer was simple, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Kill them, of course."

She was glad she didn't look, but that was the only thing she could be glad of. Because she was trapped.

* * *

It was off schedule and most definitely unplanned, but the _Sea Naga_ was pulling into port at Bleak. In all honesty, Ganondorf was none too fond of Bleak, if only for its horrible location in the middle of the Misty Sea. It was a terrible pain to find and even more terrible pain to get out of. But the crew desperately needed a break and some real time on land, and this was the closest and safest option they had. Safest because Bleak was theirs. So when the large, lithe ship had made a complete stop and the pirate king heard his crew shuffling about to prepare to go off board, he reviewed the Sea Chart in his quarters to see if while they were there they should pick up any more supplies for their next voyage.

It was at times like these, he was glad that the _Naga_ wasn't nearly as big as _the Pride_. Maybe at one point in time his ship might have been half the size of _the Pride_, and while time may not have changed the Hylian way of living, it had changed the Gerudo way. The _Naga_ originally had to carry the whole of the Gerudo tribe, making it quite a large ship. But as the Gerudo explored the Great Sea and found the many islands littered across it, their numbers dwindled. That was actually how islands like Bleak had come into existence – because they had been founded by the Gerudo women who no longer wanted to be on the Sea, but still wished to contribute to the well being of the rest of the Gerudo nation that could not join them due to size constraints on the islands. Parts of the _Naga_ that could be spared to help those Gerudo build were gladly given up.

Eventually, the Gerudo scattered so much, the _Naga_ had become a significantly smaller ship. It was by no means a truly small ship, as it still carried a good deal of Gerudo and easily dwarfed most any ship that wasn't _the Pride_. In fact, much like _the Pride_, the _Naga_ required special requirements in order to take port, such as specialized dock, though it could, with a lot of trouble and little to no wiggle room, fit in the harbor of a decent sized trading island. It would also piss of a lot of other trading vessels as they would get no space at all. Whatever the case, in the end, Ganondorf was just glad to know that while large, his ship didn't have nearly as many mouths to feed as _the Pride_.

Bleak had a specialized port for the _Naga_ around the back, as to not attract attention. And while Bleak had been found and owned by the Gerudo, it was rather unknown to that fact. Ganondorf had no intention to remedy that, as that would drive away a good deal the cash that the island drew in. It also had a culture all its own that the ladies of the _Naga_ seemed to enjoy, so he wasn't paying too much attention to the noise of the women all trying to head off the ship. He just had not expected for those sounds of shuffling about to get on the catwalks and leave the ship to turn into cries of outrage. And these were kinds of outrage that Ganondorf knew Nabooru wouldn't be able to handle. Sure enough, as soon as the thought finished in his head, there a short rap on his door and then it opened. There was his wife, her expression serious and annoyed. "Hun, we've got a problem."

Ganondorf hated hearing those words. They were enough to get him from pleasantly concerned to surly almost instantaneously. And sure enough, as he exited the king/captain's cabin, the Gerudo that had been previously shouting their outrage at whoever was causing the problem became deathly quiet. They stepped aside, letting their king pass untroubled towards the nearest catwalk. And as he stood in front of the catwalk, he could see the problem immediately. At the other end was an odd looking little man with glasses and a clipboard. By himself, he wasn't a threatening sight and he was sure his Gerudo would have easily bypassed him. Behind that man, however, was what appeared to be a small army of thugs, the bigger ones apparently having courage enough to block the other catwalks. His Gerudo could have probably handled them easily, but they were smart and knew not to attract such attention unless it was absolutely necessary. Not that it mattered here – but there were many a time in the past where his crew hadn't gotten into fights that could have very well been avoided.

He scowled a scowl that would have made his male ancestors proud as he descended the catwalk. He stopped just short of the spectacled man and glared down at him.

"Ah, you must be," the short man began, looking down to his clipboard and then reading, "Mr. Ganond-"

"_King_ Ganondorf Dragmire the Sixth." He corrected venomously.

The bespectacled man looked up incredulously and then smiled almost pitiably. "Of course, King Dragmire." He nodded. He then proceeded as if the correction never occurred. "Ehem, I am Salvatore Write, here to speak to you about your porting fee-"

"_Porting fee_?" Ganondorf repeated disbelievingly.

"Yes, porting fee." Said Write firmly, his feather quill pen trapping impatiently on his clipboard. "It has come to the attention of our esteemed leader that you and your crew have not been paying the proper fees to dock here-"

He wasn't believing what he was hearing. No wonder his crew was screaming outrage earlier. "_We_ are the nation of the Gerudo. I am the king of the Gerudo – the first Ganondorf Dragmire _established_ Bleak-"

"And we thank him dearly for it," Write interrupted in a way that said he wasn't thanking anyone for anything. "But you haven't been-"

Write was cut short by Ganondorf's overlarge hand upon his neck. "Perhaps you're forgetting that the Gerudo _own_ Bleak." He snarled.

Write hacked and coughed, and despite his flailing, none of the thugs behind him were leaping to his rescue. The pirate king loosened his grip to allow the little man to speak. In a hoarse voice, Write said, "Not… anymore… Bleak is… Blind's now."

Ganondorf didn't know who Blind was, but he definitely cared very much. Because he wasn't liking the fact that they'd been gone from Bleak a bit past six months and someone had managed to, in that short time, steal his island from under him. Bleak was _his_ – it was Gerudo territory. Secret territory, but someone was taking his business – and that would _not_ do.

He tossed Write in the water between dock and _Naga_, giving a deadly glare to the thugs who were now at the ready. There was no avoiding this fight. "Gerudo!" Ganondorf cried, "Seems we need to take back our territory!"

There was a roar of excitement coming from the _Sea Naga_ that had the small army of ruffians rethink the wisdom of their choice in occupation.

* * *

"Ya find anything yet? Boss says he wants to see bodies!"

"Nah, nothing yet! But they gotta be around somewhere. Ain't no one gonna be able to survive a fall like that!"

That might have been true had Itaav not been so proficient with wind magic. Just before the _Helmaroc_ met its end, the Engineer had used his magic to launch Link, himself, and the unconscious Pennysworth away from the crash. From there on, however, it all came down to Link. Itaav was spent – whether it was because he used too much magic or because the loss of the _Helmaroc_ had broken something in him, Link had to drag both his friend and the scrub into the alleys of Bleak. But he did not know where to go or where the alleys would lead. All they could do for the moment was wait until those men left… And if he could, he needed to follow them.

_Zelda…_ Link thought. She had reached for him and then… Well, she wasn't dead, he knew that much. Blind had her, according to earlier conversation those thugs were having. And he had to save her. Just there mere remembrance of Blind at the Dancing Cat told him that he needed to get Zelda away from him as quickly as possible.

He looked back to Itaav and Pennysworth and grimaced. He'd nearly forgotten about Pennysworth. As far as Link knew, the scrub was still alive… his sappy blood seemed to have clotted, but Link didn't know how much he'd lost and how much was bad news for a scrub. And then there was Itaav. Link had never seen his friend like this. The paler boy was hugging his knees with an almost dead look in his eyes, as if his reason for living might just have been taken from him. But then again, the _Helmaroc_ might very well have been Itaav's reason for living. In fact, the loss of the airship was… it was bad for all of them, not just Itaav. The airship was their means of transport, not to mention the only thing with the capability to get them to the one place that seemed safe – the Palace of Winds.

But now wasn't the time to think of that. None of them were safe… especially Zelda.

Which is why he had to follow those goons as soon as they left… or rather, that's what he would have liked. With a knocked out Pennysworth and an Itaav with no spirit in him, Link highly doubted he would get anywhere. And to leave Pennysworth with Itaav as he was was just asking for trouble. And that left a whole new question… where on earth were they supposed to go?

"Hey, check the alleys."

"What? But why? I doubt bodies would go that far-"

"Idiot, what if they're _not_ dead, huh?"

Link breathed in, hissing as he did so. He clapped his hands over his mouth, hoping that they didn't hear. He looked back to his friend and the scrub. "Itaav! We have to go!" He whispered urgently.

Itaav just blankly nodded at Link, leaving the blond to wonder whether his friend really heard him. But Itaav did. He went and picked up Pennysworth and then stared at Link. The dead eyed look and constant staring must have been Itaav's way of telling Link to lead the way. He needed no further prompting; he could already hear the grumbling of Blind's goon getting closer and closer.

Link led the way through the winding alleys of Bleak, unsure of where they were or where they were going. He just hoped they wouldn't have Wolfos sent after them.

"I think I saw someone-"

Link cussed under his breath. They needed to find some place to hide…

"_Psst_!"

* * *

Cliffhanger? OH NOEZ. But don't worry too much. Next chapter's like half written already. Now that _Forgotten Legends_ is done, you prolly won't have to wait too long for new chapters. ... Maybe.

Anyways, yes. The _Helmaroc_ is dead. Because Blind has access to ballistae. But we'll delve more into that next chapter. I still kinda hurt think of the _Helmaroc_ ... but it was a necessary sacrifice. Because the gang ain't done on Bleak, as you can see. And for shame any of you who thought they were going to be leaving - not that you had anyway of not knowing aside from guesswork. But some of you are irritatingly good at guessing games. That aside, Blind arc ain't done, and won't be for another couple of chapters. Also, we get into some Gerudo history here! We shall be getting into more history as the story progresses, as this weird AU I've made up kind of requires that background info to be revealed as the story progresses. Whatever the case, the Gerudo are actually in charge of half of the islands in the Great Sea. What does that mean for the gang? Hehehe...

**fleets**, now you see, I had never once thought he didn't know the appropriate words, so I never thought of it from that point of view. Regardless, I personally can't see that so I tend to believe that he did, in fact, want to gobble her up. D: And haha, yes; the point of this was to avoid adding any OCs of mine into this story. Pennysworth will hopefully be the only one. Anyways, eh, all I'll say to that last comment is - Blind arc still isn't done.

**DonFont**, heh, thanks. I'm a character driven writer, so I rather like creating characters that people will get attached to, possibly even relate to. Honestly, the characters are more important than the plot in my eyes, and I really like to think them through and think of all the dynamics they present in their relationships. I'm glad you're enjoying this and I hope you keep reading! 8D

**Purplegc**, sort of competition. Blind may be horribly good looking, but it's rather easy to forget that when he's busy being a horrible bastard. And Moe and Maggie... they still make me flinch when I think of them romantically involved. D:

**XiXIXiX**, resisting urge... not to run mouth... concerning your first sentence. Must wait until next chapter to fully answer that one. WHY AM I SUCH A BLABBERMOUTH? FFFF - erm, I mean... erm, so yes, you did get more info on the Gerudo here. I knows what Imma doing, mang. The Pride, however, will be getting no updates. In fact, we won't be getting back to the Pride until much, much, and I mean, much later in the story. It may bother you now, but really, there's nothing I could possibly write concerning _the Pride_'s status at this moment that would contribute anything to what's going on with the story now. And to me, that would feel clunky and out of place - something simply slipped in for no particular reason. So yes... no updates on _the Pride_ until much later. as for conflict, I think I accomplished that, no? XD And Linebeck... Hehe, I'll just leave you with this - I'll do ya one better.


	16. To the Hideout

Well damn. I'm just rolling these out, aren't I?

* * *

"Psst!" Link and Itaav both paused, looking around for the sound. "Over here!" The voice sounded… tiny. And that was because it belonged to a fairy. She flitted in between the boys, "Come on, quickly, follow me!" And then she sped ahead, a small golden trail of light following her.

They followed, if only because there were really no other options available to them. They weaved through the alleys behind the fairy, and Link noted that occasionally, Itaav would look backwards with an almost pained expression. But Link focused his attention on the fairy ahead of them, wondering if following her was the best of ideas… But there was just something about the fairy that felt so familiar. And then it hit him.

"Tatl?" Link blurted out without thinking. Of course, it was only after it was out that he went red in the face realizing it couldn't be his friend and partner from _the Pride_.

"Shhh!" The fairy scolded him. "And no! It's Ciela! Now _hurry_!" And with that, she sped up yet again. They kept following, quickly and quietly – even after Link was sure they were out of earshot from Blind's men.

The fairy called Ciela finally sped out of the alleys and into the open. Link hesitated, and the still silent Itaav followed suit. But upon noticing that they had stopped following, the fairy zoomed back and hissed, "Come on! It's safe, I promise! Hurry before it's not!" And then she flitted off again.

Link looked at Itaav, in hopes his friend would at least give some hint of opinion. But Itaav was still seemingly devoid of self-thought. Frustrated, Link let out a small groan and then followed the fairy. They were in the marina again, which was practically deserted because people found the crashed _Helmaroc_ much more interesting. Even Itaav had paused to look at the crowd, staring with his dead-eyed poker face. But he quickly caught up with his friend and the fairy.

Ciela stopped in front of a boat rental shop. The door had a small string with a bell attached, which the tiny fairy pulled to ring the bell. "Hurry up, Linebeck!" The fairy demanded.

Link frowned and worriedly looked back, in case anybody may have been walking by. But no, people were still wandering towards the _Helmaroc_. But the blond looked back to the door of the rental shop as soon as he heard steps approaching the door and irritated grumbling. The door opened, revealing a man in a ship captain's coat and face that looked as if he permanent sour taste in his mouth. He crinkled his sunburnt nose and stared right at Ciela.

"You know, you do have your own entrance! You could alwa- _OH NO_." Linebeck had interrupted himself only because his eyes landed on Itaav's burden. He went from looking perpetually annoyed to incredibly belligerent. He pointed right at Pennysworth, "I am not letting _that _in this shop! No way, no how! If that traitor is in trouble, I want no part of-"

"Oh shut up!" Ciela snapped. "You and I both know you're going to let him in, so let's skip the fighting and just bring him in already!"

Linebeck's mouth opened and closed absently, but his face then went back to looking sour. He scowled, stuck his out of the door and looked both ways, then stepped back and said, "Quick, before anyone sees!"

While incredibly suspicious, Link realized they didn't have many options. Especially since Itaav seemed unable to think for himself and was being absolutely no help in decision making. So he led the way in, Itaav following wordlessly. Linebeck shut the door immediately and then sent a very reproachful look at them. The man quickly looked out the window in a fit of paranoia and growled, "Take him to the back room already! If anyone sees…" His voice had lowered to an inaudible rumble of anxiety.

Ciela bobbed in the air, "Back here!" She flew through a small flap in a door in the back of the rental shop. As Link stepped in first, Ciela quickly said, "Clear the table there! Quick, I need to get started immediately!" The urgency in which she said it practically had Link jumping to wipe the table clear of the multiple pens and papers. Right after he had wiped the last small note off of the table, he heard the fairy barking an order for Itaav to put Pennysworth on the table. Silent as ever, the Engineer followed the order without much hesitation.

As soon as the scrub was on the table, Ciela zoomed around him as if checking him over. Then she focused around his head, where he had been bleeding from earlier. Link didn't think that Ciela was a recovery fairy, as most of the ones he knew were pink, not golden. But he didn't pester, because in all honesty he didn't care. He did care, however, about the fate of Pennysworth – as the scrub was probably the only one present who knew where Blind (and Zelda) might be…

Movement caught the side of Link's eye. He turned around and saw that Itaav, who had been staring blankly at Ciela's work on Pennysworth, was now squatted down, apparently looking through the papers on the floor. Link walked over and squatted as well, curious to see what could have distracted his friend from the devastation of losing the _Helmaroc_. The answer was sea charts. Dozens and dozens of sea charts. In between those sea charts were papers that were probably pages torn from books, featuring paragraphs and illustrations about mythological places; bright red ink stained the pages that had mention of words like "treasure" or instructions on location… There were so many pages and charts scrawled with red ink, Link could only guess it had all been Linebeck's handiwork.

Link looked to Itaav, to see what his friend had been looking at. He grimaced, not sure if what he was seeing would cause Itaav to spiral deeper into his depression or send him into some other type of horrible reaction. It was one of the torn book pages… and it had an illustration that looked exactly like the Palace of Winds. Under the illustration were paragraphs with the red scrawling ink. While still rather expressionless, Link could see the slightest tinge of irritation on Itaav's face before the Engineer stuffed the paper into his pocket and stood back up to resume his dead eyed stare.

Not three seconds later, Linebeck entered the room and shut the door behind him. "Oh, did you _need_ to make such a mess?" He complained at the sight of the scattered papers and pens.

"Shut up will you, I'm trying to work!" Ciela snapped.

Linebeck very quickly retorted, "Well I don't see why you need to! That scrub brought me nothing but trouble an-"

"I was _there_, Linebeck – and it would've happened sooner or later – if not from him than from _you_! Now shut it!" The fairy snapped, a tone finality in her shrill voice.

If these two lived together, Link was not sure how they survived. Especially since he could hear Linebeck grumbling something unpleasant about fairies always getting the last word. But there was silence as Ciela did what she needed to do the clip on the scrub's head. After a few minutes, the fairy finally flitted upward and said, "It looked worse than it actually was. He should be fine."

"Do you have any idea when he'll wake up?" Link felt he'd asked a stupid question as soon as he began asking it.

"None whatsoever." Came Ciela's curt reply.

Link flinched. "Sorry… But thanks."

The fairy said nothing, but Linebeck looked from the boy to the winged creature quickly before his sunburnt nose scrunched in annoyance. "Yes, thanks for dragging _us_ into this mess." The older man then let out an irritable sight before pulling at a ruddy chair in the corner and slumping into it. He stared at Link and Itaav, then asked miserably, "He double-cross you and leave you to the dogs, too?"

The blond boy shook his head. "No… I suppose it was more bad timing on our part; we got wrapped up in a situation with Blind."

Linebeck's eyes widened. "Blind made his move?"

"It explains the rumors about the Dancing Cat." Ciela mentioned.

"And he's _alive_?" Linebeck disregarded Ciela's comment completely, just staring at Pennysworth's limp form disbelievingly. Before anybody could respond to that, the man rose and began to pace back and forth quickly. "I told him – I _told_ him that he shouldn't threaten Blind. But did he listen? Of course not! No one ever listens to me! 'With what we got on Blind, we have nothing to fear' – I've never met a more idiotic scrub! Then again, I've never met any other scrubs, but he didn't listen because he's bull-headed as hell-"

"Like you," Ciela added.

But Linebeck continued on his rant, apparently not having heard the fairy and forgetting he was in the presence of strangers. "I only wanted to find out treasure spots, but he's digging up information on _anything_. He says we can start a business on this stuff, but people don't like having their secrets found out – especially crazy ones like Blind! He just had to do his own thing. Then he takes the money and runs and now look what he's got himself into!"

It seemed safe to assume that Linebeck and Pennysworth had a past.

"Because you weren't going to take the money and run sooner or later either." Ciela said sarcastically.

Linebeck's face went an ugly shade of pink, "That's not the point!"

"Then what is?" The fairy asked brusquely.

The man seemed at a loss for words, but in a fashion that reminded Link all too much of Pennysworth, the man crossed his arms and shakily said, "That I was right and he was wrong!"

"Um," Link was afraid to get a word in since it seemed like the boat rental shop owner and the fairy were about to break out into a hideously one sided argument. "Do you mind us taking cover here until Pennysworth wakes up?"

Linebeck swatted the fairy away before she could say anything. "Mind? Yes, I mind! If Blind's after him and you two are tagging along, that means Blind might come looking here!"

"But you're letting him stay!" Link protested, pointing to the unconscious scrub.

"And if you two know what's good for you, you should just leave Bleak completely!" The man said back.

A dark cloud seemed to hover over Itaav at that moment. Link grimaced at his friend, then looked back to Linebeck with an irritated face. "We just _tried_. That crash over there? That was _us_! We're stranded and Blind took our friend."

The man slipped into a pokerface and stared at the blond for a moment. Then he shrugged, "Oh, well… you're in trouble then. You should still run while you've got the chance."

Link's jaw hung in disbelief. "He's got our friend! We've got to save her!"

"Ha! That's good!" Linebeck barked. "You're just going to waltz into Blind's hideout and save your girlfriend? Do you realize most people don't even know where his hideout _is_?"

"He does!" Link pointed to Pennysworth.

Linebeck seemed a bit taken aback by that, but said nothing. He just gave the boy a hard look before finally giving in. He shook his head and said exasperatedly, "Fine. But you two stay in the back. The last thing I need is for anyone to see the two running around with Pennysworth around _me_." He made his way to the door to the main shop, pausing at the door. He turned around to face them again, Link noting there was a suspicious glint in the man's eyes. "By the way; where did you kids get an airship?"

"Don't." The blond boy stared in shock at Itaav as he spoke for the first time since the crash. Even more shocking was the sheer amount of anger in his friend. He seemed to be practically shaking with rage. "Don't you _dare_ ask about _my_ ship."

If Linebeck was offended in any way, he didn't show it. In fact, he looked absolutely unimpressed. "Touchy. I was only curious." He then directed his attention to Ciela, who had been sitting on top of Pennysworth ever since she'd been swatted away. "Make sure they behave."

The fairy gave him a mock salute before he exited the room. As soon as the door clicked shut, Ciela went and said, "Try not to let him get under your skin. He's always like that. If it's not one thing it's another."

But Link paid very little mind to the fairy. He was focused on Itaav, who still looked incredibly irate. "Are you… are you all right?" He asked.

"I want to hit something." Itaav growled. The way in which he said it made Link think that was a terrible understatement.

"I don't think Linebeck would appreciate anything broken in here." Ciela said nonchalantly. But the paler boy shot her a deathly look, and she added a cautious, "I'm just saying…"

* * *

Zelda's stomach was tied up in knots. That's what it felt like anyways. Because she was back at Maggie and Moe's, except this time, she was with Blind, a few of his cronies, and the Wolfos from before. Several times, she had considered making a run for it, but Blind had been very clear that if she ran, the Wolfos would go after her in a second. And she believed it, as one of the wolfish beasts kept eying her and releasing little growls.

One of Blind's men knocked on the door of the tiny house. Maggie opened the door.

Blind flinched at the sight of the girl. "Fuck, it's a night troll!" His cronies laughed, even though their leader seemed honestly startled, but Zelda frowned.

Moe hadn't found it funny either. He appeared behind his wife, easily overshadowing her due to his much greater height. Putting a hand on Maggie's shoulder, he growled, "That's my wife."

The crime lord put a hand in between his vision and Maggie, though he still had a look of great disgust upon his handsome face. "Well, you are a brave man… pig… thing."

Maggie tugged on Moe's shirt, her head twitching to Zelda. The moblin's eyes narrowed at Blind, but he said nothing. But Blind had noticed the gesture. With a smug smile, he grabbed Zelda by the arm and pulled her close to himself. The princess frowned, wishing she could be somewhere else. More than that, she hated the fact that Blind seemed to like walking around without a shirt. Respectable men didn't do that… even if they were incredibly good looking!

She threw the nastiest glower she could muster at the man. He kept his grin, if anything seeming pleased by her disgusted expression. "Pretty, isn't she? Fell out of the sky, almost like an angel. But she's not – and I know that because she seems to be on pretty good terms with Pennysworth." The moblin's jaw clenched. "Ah yes, so they _were_ here?" Blind asked. "Where is he now?"

"Not here." Moe responded flatly.

While the thief's smile did not die completely, it did falter. He sighed, as if disappointed, and said, "Don't play games with me." He pushed Zelda away gently, for which she was incredibly grateful. Then he pointed to the large bruise on his abdomen. "I'm already having a good deal of trouble trying to forget you gave me this."

Moe continued to glare. "We don't know." It was said with extreme contempt.

Blind cocked his head to the side, as if evaluating Moe and his answer. What occurred next happened quicker than Zelda's brain could register it – or rather, her brain did register it, it just had trouble believing what her eyes were telling her. Blind unhooked the knife he was so fond of from his belt, and in the blink of an eye, the thief had rushed right towards them and the point of the blade was right beneath Maggie's chin. Both the girl and her moblin husband froze, though Moe seemed to be using all his self-control to stay frozen.

"Are you sure about that answer?" Blind asked with a cold grin.

The moblin's jaws snapped. And they snapped again, and again… and again. They kept snapping, producing an awful noise that made Zelda shudder. She'd read about this in a book, about how when wild pigs were cornered, they'd snap their jaws so their tusks would make an awful noise to intimidate their enemy. She didn't know if Moe was doing it on purpose or if it was some deep seated instinct, but it wasn't working on Blind. "Careful, now." The thief said almost cheerily. "In fact, you may want to think about this. You can kill me, but the moment you do, my men and those Wolfos will be on you and your night troll wife in a matter of seconds. That's assuming I don't kill your night troll wife first, anyways."

"Stop it!" Zelda cried. "They don't know!"

But Blind disregarded her.

"P-please…" Maggie begged, "We really don't know." She squeaked as the blade pressed a little deeper into her chin.

"I want to hear it from him." The pleasant tone he normally kept in his voice was gone, replaced with an irritated hiss.

Moe snapped a few more times, and then managed words. "We don't know… Let her go. _Please_." There was desperation in the moblin's voice that Zelda would have never imagined could have come from anyone. The princess wanted to scream in frustration. Couldn't Blind see they really didn't know anything? Couldn't he see that both of them were near tears? Was Blind really so… so _blind_?

It was as if time had come to a standstill. She didn't know how long had passed until the crime lord was satisfied with that answer and took the blade away from the girl's chin. Zelda hadn't realized that she had held her breath during that time either. She felt a great sense of relief wash over her as she saw Moe hold Maggie so lovingly and desperately… If someone had told her that moblins were capable of love when she had been on _the Pride_, she wouldn't have believed it.

But the scene was cut short as Blind announced, "They don't know anything. Spread out; back to base." With surprising discipline, the posse that they had come with split into three groups, each taking a Wolfos with them. They all ran off in different directions, leaving only Zelda and Blind in front of Moe and Maggie's home.

The thief looked down at the princess, his expression giving off the distinct feeling of 'don't mess with me.' It was enough to get her to step back, the fight or flight instinct within her screaming flight. "You can either walk like a good girl or I can carry you. Your choice."

"I… I'll walk." Her voice came out quietly.

"If you try to run, I'll break your legs." He said roughly before leading the way.

She went to follow, but she paused, looking back at Moe and Maggie. They were staring after her… and for the life of herself, she couldn't even guess what they were thinking. Did they think she was a traitor? Did they want to help her? Did they want her to run? She did not know, and she did not spend much time looking back. She heard Blind snap, "Hurry up." The princess turned and quickly caught up to him.

The walk had a very uncomfortable silence. But she couldn't imagine a conversation would have been more comfortable. Despite that, she managed to work up the courage to ask, "Why did you… they weren't lying…" Well, perhaps it wasn't a fully constructed sentence, but it got the point across.

"People lie, princess." Blind said spitefully, not even glancing her way. "You can't know the truth unless you force it out of them."

"That's not true." She said quietly.

Blind stopped, giving her an icy smile. "So you're telling me your time off _the Pride_ hasn't force fed you reality? That in your time off of it, you've seen nothing but rainbows and butterflies?" She flinched at his harsh words – not that she really expected anything less. "Well, princess? Life is cruel – the only way you can get through it is by being cruel right back." He retorted.

Again she flinched. But she still did not believe him. That wasn't true. She refused to believe it. And while it was true that she hadn't seen rainbows or butterflies on this journey and actually saw and heard many terrifying things, she did not believe the whole world was like that. She did not voice this, as she was sure the thief would only berate her further, if not worse. But Blind didn't seem to care whether she believed or not; he continued forward, again not even glancing her way but adding, "Now keep quiet. The sound of your voice is annoying."

Zelda frowned, feeling her resistance boiling up. But she did not act on it. Running now was as stupid as it was the first time she considered it right after the crash of the _Helmaroc_. Until she had some idea of what her exact situation was and what options were available to her, she shouldn't try to run. But she had every intention to. And she would find Link and Itaav and they would find some way to get off of this horrible island called Bleak.

They walked until the sun began to go down… and it was then Zelda noticed something she couldn't help but voice. "We're going in circles."

"Yes."

"Why?" She asked.

"They call them 'hideouts' for a reason." An irritated Blind said before stopping.

She stopped as well, puzzled. "So we're going in circles so no one will find it…?" He nodded, obviously not pleased that he had to spell things out. Zelda looked around, expecting that maybe the hideout was around where they were standing. But so far as she could see, there were only run down, unoccupied houses. And she supposed these would be good places to use as a hideout since no one was likely to look in a deserted place.

"It's not here." He told her.

"Then why did we sto-" She had still been looking around as she had spoken, so she hadn't noticed that Blind had walked right up to her until it was too late. It was difficult not to notice (or rather feel) the fist that rammed into her stomach, though. She gasped before blacking out and slumping over the crime lord's arm.

Blind sighed, lowering the girl to ground. He stared at her. She was pretty, that was no lie… But he wasn't interested in that. He took her right hand and examined the back of it. He couldn't see anything. "It hasn't woken up yet," he commented to himself. Then again, he imagined it wouldn't wake in the girl for years to come. She was too innocent – too innocent to be wise. A humorless chuckle escaped his lips then. A few more days on Bleak and that could be fixed.

He hoisted her over a shoulder and then walked into one of the abandoned houses. He walked into what would have been the kitchen of the run down shack and stomped on the floor up until there was a hollow thump. He stomped on it a few more times in a sound pattern, then heard something scuffling beneath the floor. It opened up, and a head popped out of the trap door. "Oh, there ya are, Boss. We was beginning to wonder what the hold up was." The henchman's head disappeared under the floor.

"Doesn't hurt to be too careful, Jim." Blind's response was simple and expressionless as he descended down the ramp and into the underground.

"Yeah, boss, we wasn't worried. Just wondering if the girl there gave yous any trouble." Jim said as he closed the trap door and picked up the nearby lantern. He shined it near Zelda's face and then looked up at Blind. "So that's her, huh?"

"No one touches her," Blind said stoically. "As far as everyone is concerned, she is just another one of the men."

Jim gawked. "B-but Boss – she's a… well, a _she_."

The crime lord glared at the man, the lantern light making the glare look even worse than usual. "And I've got plans for this _she_ - none of which involves treating her like a street whore. And besides, if anyone is going to have her, it'll be me."

"Yessir." Jim said automatically, his eyes wide as saucers. Sometimes he wished Boss wouldn't be so scary.

* * *

The back room of the boat rental shop was near completely dark, and the only light in the room was coming off of Ciela's tiny body. The fairy displayed some concern for Pennysworth, but nothing she would outright tell Link. The blond boy didn't take that as a good sign. He also didn't take the angry Itaav as a good sign either. While his friend returned once again to his brooding silence, he was obviously still incredibly angry. What gave this away was the fact that from where Itaav sat against the wall, there had been a tiny tornado fluttering through the scattered papers on the floor. Not being able to break anything, as he had expressed the earlier desire to do, Link assumed that he was channeling all that anger into that funnel of air.

Eventually, Linebeck entered the room, saying, "Well, no one rents when the sun sets. Are you two still set on sticking around?"

Link answered, "We're not leaving without Zelda."

Itaav stayed focused on his miniature tornado.

The older man frowned. "Heroic." It didn't sound like a compliment, but he did go on to half-heartedly say, "Well, the SS Linebeck's docked right behind the shop. Since it's dark out, you guys could move over there I suppose-"

"Hah!" Ciela laughed, "You're being hospitable! Something _has_ to be wrong with the universe."

"Shut up you mutated firefly!" Linebeck spat.

"But what if he wakes up?" Link asked, looking to the still form of Pennysworth. He really wished the scrub would wake up already. He had to find Zelda. It had already been so long… At the same time, he'd be lying if he had said he wasn't falling asleep just sitting there. He had been since the moment he had first sat down. The night before had been spent freaking out about a hand in a toilet and then planning how they would get into the Dancing Cat. He'd barely gotten any sleep then, and with all the running they did earlier, he was just realizing how exhausted he was now… but Zelda. They had to get Zelda.

_"You two are going to be responsible for that girl._ _She needs to be protected."_ That's what Anjean had told them… And look at them now… He couldn't just run now, not when he was responsible for protecting someone! So how could he even think about sleeping when she was in danger? _Because the smart part of you realizes that if Pennysworth were to wake up now and tell you what you want to know, you wouldn't stand a chance as soon as you got there._ Said his Common Sense.

"I'll be staying here," Ciela said, "I need to keep an eye on him, just in case. If he wakes up and he seems coherent enough I'll get you."

Link thought of it for a moment, but his brain wasn't quite up to thinking since his Common Sense told him off. He nodded and then stood up, stretching a little to try and wake himself up a little more before he fell asleep standing. He looked over to Itaav then, who still hadn't moved and was still spinning his little tornado. Before Link could even ask, the purple haired boy snapped, "I'm staying."

No one tried to dissuade him, even though Linebeck did grumble about Itaav's little tornado. Link gave his friend one last concerned look, but followed Linebeck, leaving the pale boy and Ciela in the backroom. The fairy wasn't at all sure she liked this, but supposed as long as that creepy kid stayed in his corner with his tornado, there was nothing to complain about.

And so a bit of time passed by in which there wasn't a word from either Itaav or Ciela. There were definitely no words from Pennysworth, as the scrub seemed just as out cold as he was before. So far as the fairy saw, this silence was a very good thing. But good things always came to an end.

"You know where Blind's hideout is."

Ciela looked at Itaav, seeing that the boy was still playing around with his tornado. She didn't like seeing that the funnel was spinning faster. "No I don't." She answered matter-of-factly.

"Yes, you do. 'Most people don't know where his hideout is,' Linebeck had said, as opposed to 'no one knows.' Not mention his rant earlier – sounds like Pennysworth told him a bit about Blind. So you two know where it is, or at least he does, but I'm sure you know too." Itaav glared at her. "Tell me."

The fairy winced, again noting the speed of the tornado had increased and that it was wandering around more freely than it had before. It was one thing to be perceptive. It was another thing to be perceptive _and_ have the power to make some threatening displays that could very well just go to dangerous. "Maybe you should get your friend first then?" Her voice was a bit higher than normal.

"No." He responded simply. "Now tell me where it is."

"Y-you want to go _alone_?" Ciela burst out, not quite believing what she was hearing. It was one thing to be perceptive and threatening, and now _crazy_ was being added to the mix? But the tornado that Itaav had been messing with earlier had died then and he stood up… and all of a sudden, that just seemed to make the situation downright terrifying. The fairy wasn't sure why, but she knew if she didn't answer, things would end very badly for her. "The hideout is underground! Blind's got a whole labyrinth down there!"

"How do you get in?" Itaav's voice still had a very threatening edge.

"There are lots of entrances - but the closest one is in the cellar of the Stock Pot Inn!" She answered quickly. "You're really going to-"

"Yes," said Itaav simply, heading towards the door. As he opened it, he said back to the fairy, "Don't tell Link," before leaving the shop completely.

The fairy shuddered. There had been an 'or else' in the last part of that sentence, even if he hadn't said it out loud. She looked over to Pennysworth's unconscious face, and she said, "Penny, I'm not sure what exactly his malfunction is but I'm glad he's on your side…" She looked over to the door of the shop, as if Itaav was still there. "I think he's got the potential to be just as bad as Blind." Though a nagging voice in her head added, _If not worse._

* * *

Aw yeah, shit's gonna go down next chapter. Blind's a douche. But again, his base personality did come from the king of douches. Um... I don;'t have much to say right now, even though there's stuff I know I want to talk about. But I have to get to class in twenty minutes, so let's make this quick.

**purplegc**, no, Blind is not nice. At all. He ain't much of a charmer either. D: As for good ol' Ganny, just because he's fluffier than his ancestors doesn't make him any less dangerous, remember that. FFF, and yes, they started that as well as adding some coding in there and I was all like WUT. Twas confusing.

**SubZeroChimera**, yup and yup. Things are just going to get messier. D:

**XiXIXiX**, haha, he will get something to make up for it later. As for your various conclusions, you'll see. You ain't getting anything outta me from here! I'm keeping my mouth shut. and yes, I did add Linebeck_,_ but he isn't going to have a huge role. SAD FACE.

**Midna Hytwilian**, hah, no need to worry about lil Itaav. Remember who he's the reincarnation of after all. Heheh..._  
_


	17. Into the Labyrinth

I don't like this chapter.

* * *

When Zelda had woken up, she sat up and winced, clutching her stomach. She had no idea why she was hurting… until she remembered that Blind, being the rotten man he was, had _punched_ her. What kind of a man struck a lady?

Then she noticed that she was indoors. She looked around, finding herself in the strangest room she'd ever seen. It had colorful curtains all over; on the walls, on the ceiling, hanging from random areas. It reminded her of her a bit of the tailor's shop she would occasionally visit on _the Pride_; except it looked more like all the tailor's stock of bright fabric had thrown up… well, everywhere. Along with the curtains and fabric were also shiny baubles handing about everywhere, including a few wind chimes. Though she wasn't at all sure what good a wind chime would do in a place with no wind.

Confusion still rife within her mind, she also saw she was currently sitting up on the one cot in the room, which was covered up with even more curtains and fabrics. Was she in Blind's hideout? If so, it certainly wasn't what she expected.

The surprises kept coming too. She heard shuffling and the jingling of baubles, and looked immediately to where the curtains were parting. There was a strange gangly man there, dressed in what appeared to be a torn up shirt that showed off his midriff and pair of pants so bright, they were practically screaming. His obviously made up face looked surprise, and he offered her a big smile before saying, "Oh, looks like sleeping beauty's awake! How ya feeling?"

All she could manage at the strange sight was, "Um…"

And then he laughed. And it was a real laugh – the kind that made her want to laugh too, even though she had no idea what was funny… because so far as she saw, none of this was funny at all!

"I'm sorry, it's just… You look so confused! Your face looks adorable!"

"But I _am_ confused!" Zelda cried out. "Where am I?"

The man chuckled a bit more and then said, "Blind's base of operations – but to be more specific, you're in my room."

Zelda's eyes went wide.

"Oh no, don't worry. I told him off good for hitting you – said you wouldn't have anything to do with him until you're right as rain." He said cheerily with his hands on his hips.

But the princess had to confess that wasn't quite what she was wide eyed about before. Nonetheless, she was sufficiently more confused than before by the man's two sentences. Mostly pertaining to the fact that this man claimed he had told off Blind – which she was having an extremely hard time believing. Blind, who had held a knife against an innocent girl's chin just to get an answer he'd already heard from her husband, had been told off by this one man here… and this guy was still around, perfectly _fine_?

"Ah, I know that look. Wondering how I survived talking back to Blind? That's what happens you're his cousin. You can get away with a few things." He said with a grand smile. "Mind you, he won't let me get away with it again - never known a more foul tempered guy. Shame I'm related to him."

"You're _related_ to him?" She gawked.

"Yup, on his mother's side." He then leaned in closer and added, "But don't tell him I told you; as far as most are concerned, Blind just spawned from the shadows."

Zelda scoffed and crossed her arms indignantly. "More like spawned from a roach. He's absolutely horrid."

"Hah, spoken like a true princess!" He said with a chuckle. "Anyways, you didn't answer my first question. How are you feeling?"

She almost didn't answer, tempted to simply let her sour expression answer all. But she did. "Sore."

The man nodded. "He does have quite an arm. But aside from that?"

"Upset." She answered truthfully. She had been fearful at first, but it was difficult to continue be fearful when the one who instilled it wasn't around. And in fact, she now felt she had no reason to be afraid of Blind because he was just a brute with no manners at all and a fear based regime. Well, she refused to be fearful of such a man!

"Wow, you're fiery." The man said, somewhat surprised at the way in which the princess was holding herself.

"I have every reason to be." She snapped. Just the very thought of Blind was sending her in a rage and erasing any bit of good humor she might have had in her. "The man nearly kills me and my friends, then he has the gall to kidnap me, and as if he couldn't be any more audacious, he _punches_ me!" She was now standing on her tip toes in outrage, forgetting all the pain in her stomach to scream shrilly instead. "I am not… I am _not_ the trophy he thinks I am! I am Princess Zelda Olivier Hyrule of House Harkinian and I will _not_ be treated like this!"

By the time she'd finished her shrieking, she was panting and looking at Blind's cousin with a wild-eyed rage. The man was looking at her with a sort of shock, but he approached her slowly and said, "Okay, okay, deep breaths there. Maybe you should sit down."

Still glaring, she sat herself down on the cot again.

"Well, princess… ah, I'm Falbi. And I swear Blind's not nearly as heartless as he seems." He said, seemingly still shocked from her earlier outburst. Her glare had a hint of disbelief. "I swear it. If anything, you could say he's just angry at… well, everything. And he take it out on… well, everything."

"Then he needs to learn to control it!" She spat angrily.

Falbi shrugged and nodded. "That is true…" But then he shook his head and brightened up again, no doubt in order to change the subject completely. "All that screaming, though; must have worked up an appetite! I can go something if you'd like – you know, probably not a good idea for you to go out there currently being the only female in this place at the moment! Though some might argue I was the first female here-"

"What?" She asked, not hiding her extreme irritation. Falbi, so far as she was concerned, talked too much. Besides, what kind of man was female? That was a complete oxymoron.

But Falbi seemed a bit taken aback, if only because he'd never met anyone who didn't know what he was talking about. Blind hadn't been kidding when he said the girl was sheltered. "Never mind, I'll see about getting something in the kitchen." And with that, he walked out through his billowing curtains.

Zelda instantly got up and began to look around. She had to get out. Now while Blind wasn't watching her every move, she had to leave. At the same time, she couldn't just waltz out as she was. If she really was the only girl there right now, she would be recognized instantly. So she was throwing all those annoying curtains aside, hoping for some sign of a closet or something. She smiled for the first time since she'd woken up when she found what she was looking for: a rickety looking wardrobe.

The smile dropped quickly, however, when she saw half the wardrobe was female clothing. And all of a sudden, she had an idea that perhaps Blind had a little help turning onto Tracy. _I guess that's what he meant by him being a female._ Though the thought was still strange. Whatever the case, she shuffled through the clothing, trying to find the least obnoxious things she could find that might have had a chance of fitting her. She finally pulled out a ruddy old tunic, a skull cap, and a pair of shorts that would probably fit like pants on her. She threw it all on what she already wearing, then stuffed her hair into the skullcap. Zelda looked into the mirror next to the wardrobe and frowned. Hide her body as she might, she had doubts her face wouldn't give her away. Blind had carried her in here… so who knows how many of his men had already seen her face? She reached down the big pants to the shorts she had been wearing since Anjean's, fishing out the red sash she had been using as a belt. She tied it over her face, satisfied that she was now more or less disguised.

Then she heard the jingling of baubles. "Princess?" Falbi called out.

She withheld a very unladylike word. Zelda hadn't really thought he would have returned by now – and he obviously couldn't see her like this. Then he would be watching her as sharply as Blind was earlier. She could see the man's shadow through the curtains, knowing she was only shielded by the shadow of the wardrobe. However, he'd come this way eventually. She looked around quickly, trying to find something – anything – that could aid in her escape. Her eyes finally laid on a small statuette of what seemed to be a beckoning cat. She remembered seeing them in the Inner Wall, in front of all the shops. But those had been golden while this one was some sort of tarnished bronze – or at least covered in tarnished bronze. But it didn't matter what it was made of, because it was solid and heavy and that was all she needed.

She picked it up and tiptoed over to where Falbi's shadow was. She couldn't believe what she was about to do.

"Princess?" He called again.

Briefly, she wondered what would happen if he just gave up looking for her and left? She grimaced, realizing he would no doubt alert his cousin to this escape attempt. There was just no getting out of this…

She quietly slipped through the curtain, finding herself right behind Falbi. She bit her lip. For all of her earlier anger at him earlier, she knew Falbi wasn't a bad guy. He had kept her away from Blind for a little bit, and he certainly didn't have to, she knew… Yet she had to do it. Putting all her might in her arm, she swung the statuette at the back of his head.

There was an ugly thumping sound as the bronze cat made contact with the back of the man's skull. Without a word, he just dropped down. There was no explanation of shock or gasp; he just dropped. She staggered back, dropping the cat statue and gasping in disbelief at what she had just done. She couldn't believe… did she kill him? She took a wary step forward and then bent down, watching the man closely… He was breathing. A small sigh of relief escaped her lips. She hurried through the many curtains, pausing at the cot she had been sleeping on. There was a bowl of rice there…

The guilt of knocking out Falbi really hit her, but she knew she could not stay. Even if she was hungry. She looked back to where Falbi was, unable to really see him through his curtains. "Sorry," she mumbled before heading out the way she saw him coming and leaving from.

After pushing through more and more curtains (really, why did anyone need so many curtains), she finally came to a ruddy looking door. She left the room quickly and quietly and then found herself in a dirty hallway. Literally. The walls were made of dirt. She was underground then… no wonder Falbi covered his room in curtains then. Because this wasn't the homey underground of Anjean's and Byrne's home. It was dark(even though there was the occasional lantern filled with… fireflies?), damp, and it smelled funny. And not funny "ha-ha," either. But she didn't linger on that. She had to find a way out.

The princess looked both ways, and seeing that each path looked equally uninviting, she simply spun around once and then headed off in the direction she had stopped in. She had run at first, but quickly realized that running would be a dead give away that she did not belong if someone were to pass by. She had come to this conclusion just in time, because as she walked these twisting underground tunnels, several men passed. Thankfully, they didn't seem up for conversation either – though she did seriously consider asking one of them where the way out was. At the same time, her voice was high pitched, and she wasn't sure she could mask it without sounding obvious. But Zelda came to the conclusion that if she found a place that headed upwards, that would eventually lead to a way out.

All she had to do was keep walking…

And avoid Blind.

* * *

It ended up that Blind's attack on the Dancing Cat and the crash of the _Helmaroc_ were the talk of the town that night. It was in the Stock Pot Inn, at least, and Itaav's mood certainly wasn't improving because of it. Especially since he had to pass the crash site, and especially _especially_ because half of the components of his airship were missing because some scavengers stole them. And that had the Engineer's boiling rage practically getting close to a dangerous explosion. The scum of this place were stealing _his_ property, no doubt to sell them as scrap parts!

So Itaav was doing his best to channel all this anger and hatred onto one person: Blind. It was Blind's fault that the ship crashed; Blind's fault that it was now in pieces all over Bleak and being sold for peanuts. _And_ the asshole actually kidnapped the princess too!

Though truthfully, he had no idea why that last one was such a sore spot. He'd been joking earlier in the day about having an interest in Zelda, mostly just to get under Link's skin. The princess was pretty, yeah, but he still had that feeling of intense dislike from when he had first met her, something that had turned into a grudging tolerance. But despite that, while he was mourning the loss of his beloved airship, he also felt this primal rage take over when he'd heard that Blind had Zelda. He couldn't explain why it bothered him so, only that it was contributing to the raw hatred he was feeling for Blind at that very moment. And right now, that was a good thing. Because he was just going to look for any damned excuse to hate Blind more than he already did.

For the most part, the Stock Pot Inn seemed busier than normal. The girl that ran the front desk seemed even more harried than usual, even with the help of an indigo haired young man. Had he not been so focused on just eliminating Blind completely, he might have felt bad for them. Nonetheless, Itaav hung back, in between the tavern and the lobby, waiting for the first instance that the couple left the desk. Because he needed to get to that cellar.

And while he hung back, he heard the various recounting of what happened at the Dancing Cat. They were all pretty ridiculous, and none of the stories really made sense either. But everyone did wonder what happened to Pennysworth –whether he was dead or alive. Some of the smarter ones inferred he was alive, else Blind wouldn't be looking as hard as he was to find the scrub. But most everyone seemed to know the incidents in the Cat and the crash of the _Helmaroc_ were related. It had Blind written all over it apparently, because he was the only one on the island who had access to ballistae.

Ballistae… really, Bleak was the last place Itaav would have expected them to be. _The Pride _had a few of them, but most of them were ancient and didn't work since ballistae usually applied to firing at things up and above – which was rather useless since nothing was taller than the ship. Ballistae were mostly a Continental or _Naga_ thing…

The couple finally rushed away from the front desk.

Not even bothering to make sure if anyone was paying attention or not, he quickly walked over to the counter and slipped behind it. Not looking back, he rushed into the back room, looking for the entrance to the cellar.

It was eerie how quiet it was in the back as opposed to how loud it was just a few moments ago. He could still hear the dull roar from the tavern, but if anyone was to come now, he would have the advantage of hearing it. Itaav still wanted to avoid any chance encounters with anyone right now, as to avoid wasting any energy on anyone who wasn't Blind. He looked through the different entry ways to other parts of the back – finding linen closets towards the rooms and the pantry towards the kitchen. The cellar would probably be in the pantry, now that he thought of it, since it would keep the perishable foods from rotting.

Slipping into the pantry, Itaav examined the floor for any doors. Since they had no reason to hide it, he found the door quite easily. He knelt down to open it up, and as he did so, he heard the redhaired counter girl, "Kafei! We need more Chateau Romani!"

"On it, Anju!"

Kafei's voice was much closer than Anju's was.

Quickly, Itaav opened the cellar door and slid down. He had no doubts that Kafei would follow soon, which didn't leave him much time for finding yet another trapdoor that would likely be hidden. Worst of all, it was dark and the air was stuffy – not good for a claustrophobic Engineer. But his anger was still fueling him, numbing the gut wrenching terror into a tiny spat of anxiety. He heard the steps of Kafei above him, then furtively looked around for a place he could take cover. Unable to see, he summoned a quick witchlight and then ran and ducked behind a stack of crates near the far corner of the cellar. He dispelled the witchlight just as the door to the cellar opened up.

Itaav did not dare chance peering over the crates to see where Kafei was going. He just listened to the sound of the steps, deeply wishing the young man would just hurry up, get what he needed and left. After a grueling few seconds, he heard the indigo haired fellow pick up a crate at the other end of the room and head back up the steps. A kicking noise and a slam later, the cellar was dark again.

The Engineer shot up, re-summoning his witchlight and looking for signs of a hidden trapdoor. Kafei's steps made no hollow sounds, so the trapdoor wouldn't be near the cellar entrance… so far as he could see, there was not discoloration on the floor. And no matter where he stepped, the floor sounded the same.

… But there were skid marks. They were light, and it took a second glance to recognize them for what they were…but they were definitely scratches upon the floor. And skid marks in a cellar? Itaav felt a smirk come on his face. And they were coming right from the stack of crates he had been hiding behind earlier.

With a little trouble, he brought the top crate down. Then he pushed the second, and lighter, crate away. And there it was; a cracked patch of wood that looked like it had been carrying more weight than it was made for. He was guessing that this wasn't an entryway Blind's gang used very much, what with the weight that had been above the door. In fact, that weight was probably where that crack had come from. Unfortunately, that made the door a bit tougher to open. It seemed to be stuck, which was not helping Itaav's already aggravated mood. He was sorely tempted to blast the door through before it finally came loose. He lifted the door, letting out an occasional snarl when it stuck, and when space allowed, he descended the rickety ladder into the labyrinth below.

The claustrophobia that his anger was repressed was fighting back a bit more strongly now. The tunnel he had found himself in was uncomfortably narrow, and he was beginning to feel that tiny bit of anxiety grow into something getting very near to panic. But then Itaav remembered that he was in Blind's labyrinth. Blind who had destroyed his ship and kidnapped Zelda.

He looked both ways, the dim lighting showing him the same tunnels. Without much rhyme or reason, he went down one direction, only to come to a skidding halt at the sound of voices. They were coming from another connecting tunnel… he turned around and put his back to the wall, listening to the voices around the corner.

The first voice he could make out was male – a deep rumble, "… cheeky brat thinking he can-"

"We'll take care of him, hun," it was a woman's voice, and she sounded as she had been saying that same sentence over and over again for a very long time.

"This is _my_ island, Nabooru." Said the male voice venomously.

"Yes, it is, hun. And we'll teach him a lesson once we find him." Said the woman's voice.

Itaav forked an eyebrow. While he could only hear two talking, he could hear more than two pairs of footsteps… It was a small group, but there was definitely more than two. And they were definitely getting closer. The only problem was that hiding in a corner… well, it wasn't a good hiding spot. He could easily be spotted, especially with him being so pale. If they walked past him, there was a very good chance he'd be seen. And if they walked towards him, then his luck could very well run out. Whatever the case, he had to be prepared for some sort of confrontation…

His mind cleared for just a moment, forgetting his anger in favor of some rationale. From what he could gather of this group, they were not fond of Blind. They seemed to have been in charge of the island until Blind took over. And Itaav could use that to his advantage. His earlier plan had just been to storm in, kill Blind, get the girl, and somehow escape the chaos unscathed. But with a group like this, from the sounds of it a rival gang, if he managed to get on their good side due to having a common enemy, his chances of escaping as he originally planned would heighten significantly. This was assuming this particular gang was a bit more tolerant than Blind's and wouldn't kill him on sight. But he didn't have any other choice in the matter, because he was going to get caught either way – of that he was sure.

So Itaav stepped away from the wall and then turned the corner with hands up in surrender. Not a few feet away was the group he had assumed was the rival gang, who had come to a pause at the sight of the pale Engineer that had just stepped in front of them. One thing he hadn't accounted for, though, was that this 'gang' was actually a group of Gerudo. Which meant the huge, redheaded, dark man who made Byrne look like a fluffy bunny had to be the sole male Gerudo – their king.

_Oh crap._ He thought. But the thoughts in the back of his head he often chatted with said,_ He's really not _that_ frightening._

* * *

The Gerudo had made short work of the thugs at the _Naga_'s harbor. And once they were all accounted for, Write - who had crawled back onto land and attempted to discreetly escape unnoticed - had lost his air of smug invincibility and sung like a bird. Or more accurately yapped like a monkey. Whatever simile anyone chose, however, in the end Write talked, revealing ever so graciously several of the entrances to Blind's labyrinth. Ganondorf made sure to reward Write by tying him to skiff and sending it off to who knew where.

But that didn't matter. He needed to reclaim his island.

So he and a select group of his Gerudo (dear wife included, of course) descended into the labyrinth. Unfortunately, navigating the maze was not so easy – which he supposed was kind of the point; but he didn't have to like it. It wasn't helping his temper, however, which was already bad upon finding out that someone had closed in on his territory. That he wasn't getting any closer to finding the upstart was causing him to grumble and mumble angrily. Nabooru put up with it fantastically – just as she put up with his many other shortcomings fantastically – while the others of his group focused on the task at hand, incapacitating any of Blind's not-so-merry band of thieves efficiently and quietly.

So he was a bit taken aback to see that someone had actually come around the corner with their arms up. Granted, motions of surrender didn't usually mean the surrendered received any better treatment. His subordinates didn't even think twice as they stepped quickly forward, about to throw the boy aside as they had done the several others they had passed. But Ganondorf was quick to note that this boy wasn't one of Blind's men. They all had that irritating sense of loyalty and fight-till-we-die mentality that said Blind liked to have a crew mostly comprised of those significantly less intelligent than him (or that Blind was just as idiotic as them, but the pirate king doubted the thief would have come to steal his island in that case). This boy was surrendering much too easily… plus, if the others were anything to go by, this kid was far too clean to be one of Blind's men.

"Wait." He told his Gerudo, who listened without hesitation. However, they did surround the pale boy, their weapons at the ready. Ganondorf was impressed that this fellow, who at first seemed shocked to see a group of Gerudo, was now looking right at him with an almost careless sense of confidence. Something about that look – a look that said the boy was sizing him up – actually had the pirate king feeling somewhat threatened and that he needed to punch him right in the face.

"Hun, just let them take care of the kid," Nabooru sighed. "Weren't you just complaining about how long this was-"

Ganondorf ignored his wife, staring straight at the young man before them. "You're not with Blind."

"I'd rather throw myself to a Big Octo." Said the pale boy nonchalantly.

Nabooru forked an eyebrow. "Then what are you doing here?"

"You're not the only one with a bone to pick with him." Again, the boy responded quite matter-of-factly. It was clear to Ganondorf that any hint of fear that this young fellow had shown at seeing them at first was either hidden very well or just completely absent. The pirate king now really wanted to punch this kid hard in the face.

"Oh? And what did he do to you?" Nabooru asked suspiciously on her husband's behalf.

"Two things," said the pale fellow simply, "He killed my ship and then kidnapped my girlfriend."

"And you just decided," Ganondorf began with a low growl, "To take him on alone?"

The boy shrugged casually, "I get that a lot, but I'm young and I'm pretty pissed – perfectly natural to do outrageously stupid things."

"That's an understatement." Nabooru replied flatly.

"You should go home." Ganondorf snarled, motioning for the Gerudo to leave the kid so they could move on.

"He has my girlfriend." The boy repeated. "I'm not leaving without her."

"That's sweet, kid, but you'll get in our way." Nabooru said in a manner that didn't sound at all like she thought it was sweet.

"You know, I can't be that helpless if I managed to get his far."

Ganondorf did pause at that - and by extension the rest of the Gerudo paused. The kid had a point. So it was either true or he was extremely good at bluffing. He looked over his shoulder at the boy, who still had that steely eyed expression of calm. Yet the look of sheer hatred in those eyes practically mirrored his own. That hatred would either work with him or get him killed. Facing forward, he spat, "You take care of yourself and stay out of our way."

And he and his Gerudo went ahead, while Itaav merely smirked.

_See?_ Said the thought sat the back of Itaav's head, _Not frightening in the least._ _Just say the right words and even the Gerudo will do what you want. _But still, he realized they'd do what he wanted (even if they didn't know it) only as long as they didn't know that the "girlfriend" he was talking about was Princess Zelda. _Here's to hoping that I either find her first or that they don't know what she looks like._

* * *

And here is where Blind strays from his base - because there's actually reasoning as to why he's a horrible person. I WONDER WHAT IT IS? notrly. That aside, really have nothing else to say except that I look forward to next chapter more.

**purplegc**, and you think I didn't think that? Of course Linebeck's got something up his sleeve! XD As for Itaav, why work when you can get other people to do it for you? AndyesNaboorudidgrabthehat.

**Midna Hytwilian**, patience. XD

**SubZeroChimera**, ohohoho, Itaav will only continue to get more and more dangerous and conniving. Mustn't forget his name backwards, after all. XD

**XiXIXiX**, as I said to purplegc, you didn't think even I thought that was off? Linebeck's got something in mind, don't you worry. XD As for Ciela, I wanted someone there to annoy the piss out of Linebeck. And they seem to do that to each other a lot. XD

**DonFont**, I've never put anything in this story that said Itaav ever gave his dark side the red light to begin with. Kekeke...


	18. Confrontation in the Hideout

I like this chapter better. :3

* * *

Link normally liked fairies. His first fairy partner as a Scaler was Navi, a chatty and helpful fairy that often mentored the younger Scalers. His second was a red fairy by the name of Leaf. His last partner had been Tatl, and Link had recently taken to training with her brother, Tael. So Link had a rather good relationship with the Fae folk…

But right now, he really wanted to stab Ciela. She'd come flitting in a bit after Link had to deal with Linebeck's irritating questions about the _Helmaroc_ - which Link could not answer as he never particularly cared for it – and the hints that he would like a 'tip' for being so incredibly helpful. In other words, Link had just gotten some sort of sleep when Ciela burst in. At first it hadn't been particularly bad, as Link still wanted to know if Pennysworth was awake and where he could find Blind. So when he opened his mouth to ask, and the fairy immediately said, "No, he's not awake," Link kind of wanted to find a hammer and smash Ciela flat as a pancake.

That changed pretty quick, though, when the fairy went on to say, "Your friend is _crazy_! He went and threatened me and then he went to find Blind!"

"_What_?" When Link said it, it had come out in shock. When Linebeck had said it, it came out in horror. That caused Link to turn around and give the man a confused look, then ask, "Why do you care?"

"Because he's always-"

Linebeck interrupted in a panic. "Shut up you pugnacious pixie!"

But Ciela just spoke right on through his insult. "-known where Blind's hideout is. He was just too much of a cucco to tell you."

And just like that, Link's anger was directed right at Linebeck. The man flinched at Link's venomous glare and said quickly, "Don't give me that look! I can't risk anyone finding out that I know anything about Blind! In fact, I'd rather no one know I'm even involved with _this_! Isn't it bad enough I'm already associated with Pennysworth?"

"You were willing to let an innocent girl to get hurt just save your own ass?" The blond boy blurted out in outrage.

"Yes!" Linebeck said back. "It's no one I know!"

Link had never felt a more powerful urge to beat someone senseless. No wonder this guy and Pennysworth had been partners! They were both snakes out to save their own hides! But before Link could interrogate Linebeck, Ciela shushed them. "Quiet! Listen!"

There were sounds from above deck. Link looked up at the ceiling, trying to see where exactly the sounds were coming from. It sounded like footsteps… Just one pair. Someone was walking around on deck. Link looked back to Linebeck and glared. The message was clear, "Your ship, you check." And the man did not even pretend to try and misunderstand. With a gulp, the man went up the stairs to above deck. Link and Ciela watched as Linebeck's silhouette disappeared up above.

A muffled but feminine voice could be heard crying out with delight, "Linebeck!"

"J-Jolene?" Linebeck voice's, however, came out perturbed.

"Who's Jolene?" Link asked in a hushed whisper to Ciela.

The fairy let out a snort, "An old girlfriend of his that just won't get the hint."

"Then why doesn't he say anything?"

"Have you ever tried to break up with a Gerudo?"

Link's jaw dropped. "G-Gerudo?" His face paled. The Gerudo were on Bleak now? That was not good. That was really, really not good. "Ciela, I need to get out of here! You need to tell me where Itaav went!"

"I'll take you there myself." Said the fairy proudly before flitting up to the door. "I'll tell you when the coast is clear – Jolene may be dragging Linebeck off somewhere, but I don't know for sure."

She was about to disappear through the crack under the door when Link remembered something, "What about Pennysworth?"

"The worst is over, he'll be fine. And if he wakes up, the doors are locked so he can't leave." And with that, the fairy slipped away. And Link waited for the fairy's return. He needed to find Itaav and get to Zelda…

His anger flared up again at the thought of Itaav. What was he trying to pull going off alone?

"Let's go!" He heard Ciela say.

_With gusto._ Link thought angrily.

* * *

Zelda had decided that she never wanted to go to any other hideouts ever if they were all like Blind's. There were far too many halls and tunnels that looked exactly the same. How anyone found their way through this place was a mystery to her, though she did hope it would remain a mystery to her. She certainly did not have plans to spend enough time in this place, or even Bleak in general, to learn its layout.

She was sure she was going around in circles too, because she was seeing footprints that looked an awful lot like her sandals. When she came to the first fork without her prints, she veered the other way. The princess was getting frustrated, finding that if anything she was heading deeper underground than closer to above ground. And that only concerned her with all the factors of having an underground base in an _island_. Surely there had to be a deposit of groundwater _somewhere_. And she hated to wonder whether it was sealed properly or not.

Her spirits did lift when she felt a slight strain on her legs. She was heading upwards! And that was the best thing to happen so far! She picked up the pace a little, following the tunnel and hoping for perhaps maybe a glimpse of light from outside (though she wasn't sure if it was light or dark outside). And she brightened significantly when she did see a light at the end of the tunnel. She rushed forward excitedly and into…

A common room. The light she had been following was from a common room whose ceiling was lined with firefly lanterns.

She was glad her sash was now a scarf covering half her face, because the look of sheer horror that came upon her as she saw a group of six gathered lazily upon what appeared to be makeshift couches stared right at her.

"Oy, what's the rush, newbie?" Said one of the six, a big man who had a tattoo on his chest obscured by a green shirt.

She didn't know how to respond. At all. But she didn't need to. Apparently, the word "newbie" was all that one of the six needed to pop out of his seat, smile broadly at her and say, "Hey, why don't you sit over here with us? I mean, if you're new, then that means I'm not lowest ranking anymore!" He was the youngest one there, she noted, a boy with dirty blond hair and an enormous set of buck teeth. She was having a hard time imagining he was any older than fourteen.

Nearly half of the men shook their heads and mumbled something in disappointment at the boy's words, and before she could object, the boy had practically leapt towards her and grabbed her by the sleeve, dragging her to a makeshift pouf and forcing her down. "I'm Niko! And as of today, you are my underling!" The boy said all too happily. Before she could get a single word in (not that she really could think of anything to say beyond, "Huh?"), he then began to point at the other individuals and name them.

"That's Gonzo!" Niko pointed to the tattooed, green shirted man.

"He's Mako!" It was a smaller, older man with a large pair of glasses. He was holding a book… and was using a knife as a bookmark. Lovely.

"Zuko!" It was another smaller man, though younger than Mako. He had an impressive pair of sideburns and even more impressive shadows under his eyes.

Then he pointed to another big man – a really hairy one. "Senza!"

The last man pointed to had a dirty blond bob of hair and a light purple shirt. "And that's Nudge!"

Niko looked back to her with his silly, excited grin. "Now you! What's your name?"

"Link." She said automatically. His name was the first that popped into her head, though it was an ugly reminder of how she had no idea where he was and if was alright.

"Where were you headed off to in such a hurry, Link?" Niko asked eagerly.

"Oh, um…" Zelda cleared her throat and tried to make her voice sound a bit deeper. "Uh, just got a little lost." It wasn't a lie.

Gonzo chuckled. "Definitively new. Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it soon enough, yeah. Niko still gets lost."

The younger boy got a bit red in the face and then went to change the subject quickly, "So, when did you join?"

"Uh, yesterday." She lied, her eyes nervously scanning the area. She needed to find an excuse to leave. It'd be strange if she had just asked them where the nearest exit was…

"Really? I joined two weeks ago!" Niko said excitedly. "Couldn't wait to join! I mean, isn't the boss just so _cool_?"

She blinked. "Cool?" Remembering back to the unpleasant time when Blind held her closely, she wouldn't consider him cool. He was quite warm actually. But the look Niko was giving her was telling her that cool may have had a meaning she didn't know about, so she just nodded, "Yes, he's…he's very cool." She was hoping she hadn't said anything wrong.

"Yeah! He's so cool!" Niko said again happily. He then looked over to the rest of the group, "What about you guys?"

Mako shrugged, "He gets points for being clever. You never know what he'll do."

"Nah, that's just because the boss is way reserved, yeah? You never see him talking to anybody about nothing. Tells us what to do and we don't usually get it until after it's done with." Gonzo said. "And when it is done with, it's usually some big game changing move, yeah."

Zuko grumbled something that sounded like some sort of agreement.

"I wonder what happened to those missing kids, though," said Nudge absently. "I aimed that ballista just right – I don't think they could've survived that fall. But no bodies."

"We'll find them!" Niko said proudly. "And if we don't, then the boss will! But what about that princess, huh? Did any of you get to see her? I heard she's really pretty! You think she's gonna marry the boss?"

Zelda tried not to snort. The day she'd even consider a man like that to be her husband would be the day ancient Hyrule rose from the Great Sea! But she stayed silent, morbidly curious to see what these men knew of her.

"Hah! Don't be silly, Niko!" Mako said, an air of superiority in his voice, "The boss has bigger plans for that girl! I mean, she's the princess of _the Pride_! Do you have any idea what the people on that ship would pay to see that girl back?"

"I think there's even more to it than that." Gonzo added. "I dunno what, but like I said before, boss always has a bigger plan than we think of first, yeah."

_Bigger plan?_ She thought. "Did Pennysworth know any of them?" She asked in her weak imitation of a male voice.

"I'd imagine so," Mako said. "I can't think of anything else that would make the boss want to kill anyone this badly – aside from inside treachery, of course."

"Yeah, newbie; once you're in, you're in." Senza emphasized, giving Zelda look of warning. "So if you get cold feet later, good luck to you." Zuko mumbled yet another hard to understand statement that she took to mean agreement.

"The boss has some seriously scary punishments lined up for traitors." Gonzo said. "But he had to get the name Blind from somewhere, yeah?"

Zelda grimaced, again glad that her expression was masked by the scarf. "How does a man get to be so twisted?" It was meant to stay within her brain, but she'd thought it out loud instead. And for a moment, she panicked, thinking she had definitely said something wrong.

But she didn't. Niko, sounding like he was speaking a ghost story said, "I heard that the boss was raised by Gibdos, and that's why he blinds the people that make him mad – so they can be just as blind as the ones who raised him."

Mako looked at Niko with utter distaste. "That's stupid."

The younger bandit's face reddened again. "Alright, where do _you_ think he came from then?"

"With all that speed and agility he has? He's obviously descended from the Sheikah." The spectacled man said matter-of-factly.

Zelda wanted to object. While the Sheikah were mostly relegated to her father and brother, she'd seen enough of them to know that Blind didn't quite fit that mold. In fact, thinking on it, most of them kind of resembled Itaav. Pale with red eyes, though none that she knew of had purple hair. The occasional blond, but no purple. Whatever the case, Blind was definitely not a Sheikah descendant of any sort.

And Gonzo seemed to be of the same mind. "Nah. My brother, Alfonzo, back when we lived there, he used to be a guard on _the Pride_, yeah. Blind moves more like one of them from what I've seen." That took Zelda by surprise. Gonzo was from _the Pride_? But she didn't get much time to dwell on that.

"Hah! Blind being from _the Pride_! That's a laugh!" Senza barked. "I may not know where he came from, but the boss _hates_ _the Pride_!"

"He does?" Zelda asked blankly.

"He does." Nudge nodded. "Until that princess came along, _the Pride_ was like a taboo subject. He gets much more threatening than normal… So I guess he's from the Continent then; one of those who thinks _the Pride_ is a useless waste of space."

Zelda frowned. Hearing that, she didn't believe that. When he'd mentioned it to her that one time, he didn't seem to have a high opinion of it either. Blind hated the Pride… a lot apparently. And she didn't think Blind was ignorant enough to hate something without knowing at least something about it. She may have thought him to be a terrible person, but ignorant? No. She did not get that impression from him. _Blind… is from _the Pride_…? _But thought still seemed foreign to her. How could anyone so nasty come from _the Pride_?

* * *

The Gerudo knew how to take care of business. That didn't really surprise Itaav, though. These were the women who caused all sorts of chaos for _the Pride_ on a regular basis. And as they went down the tunnels, any one of Blind's men who happened to be nearby was quickly and quietly incapacitated. It was always quick and barely made a dent their trek.

Unfortunately, they weren't finding their quarry very quickly. They had come to three dead ends so far, and the constant twists and turns were making an agitated Itaav bordering on explosive due to the increasing nagging effect his claustrophobia was having, as well as the fact he just wanted to tear Blind apart limb from limb. He could feel the raw magical force tickling his finger tips and it was getting very difficult to contain.

Ganondorf noticed this, but he said nothing. He did, however, keep his senses sharp. This boy was staying out of their way for now, but he had no way of knowing the validity of the boy's story. What he did know was that this boy's temper was at the edge and he had a lot of magic at his beck and call. Granted, the pirate king could tell that the kid was lacking in formal magical instruction – but he had that raw potential that set off his threat indicator. It could be even worse if the boy had the natural talent for using it too. _Calm down, Ganondorf._ He told himself. _Remember where your ancestors failed. Trying to get rid of people before they've presented a threat does _not_ always work._ At the same time, he remembered a failure to do so happened too. What it all came down to was that he needed to keep a very close eye on this kid.

"Hun," he felt Nabooru nudge him. He looked to his wife, who gestured to look on ahead. There was a door. They'd passed several doors already, none of which seemed to contain anything important as of yet. But if there was one thing that Ganondorf liked to be, it was thorough.

"Go in," he ordered.

The Gerudo, as per usual, wasted no time. His girls entered swiftly and quietly, then one of them cried out, "Clear."

"Nothing in there?" He asked. He didn't want to go in unless there was anything important.

Nabooru peered inside and answered before the other women could. "It looks like a study, hun."

He forked a thick red eyebrow. A study? Here? He entered, mostly because he had an idea that the only one who would make a hidey hole like this in the labyrinth would have to be Blind.

Itaav was a little less interested. He didn't care who the study belonged to, only that the one whose face he wanted to smash in wasn't there. He simply stood outside, tapping his foot impatiently… until something in that room did catch his eye. The Engineer entered the room, looking up at the spread of paper upon the wall. But he stayed quiet as he felt a shadow behind him. This map had caught Ganondorf's eye as well… And Itaav was pretty sure they were both very aware of what the map was displaying.

"_The Pride_…" Ganondorf muttered, echoing the pale teen's thoughts.

It wasn't a full map; just a general overlay. But the fact that Blind even had access to the overlay and why he would even need it was the real concerning factor.

Still, Itaav couldn't stare too long. As far as Ganondorf knew, the boy tagging along wasn't from _the Pride_. So he tore his gaze away from the overlay and gave a cursory look to the rest of the room, pausing at the sight of the sole pictograph in the room. He walked over, ignoring the wary looks from the Gerudo, his gazed focused upon the old and yellowed picture tacked upon the wall.

It was a picture of a Royal Guardsman from _the Pride_ and a boy. The two were obviously father and son, with the guard looking at his son proudly and the boy giving his father a wide grin, showing off a missing tooth. What was disconcerting about the picture was that Itaav knew exactly who he was a looking at, because the guardsman looked like an older version of Blind… which meant the boy in the picture was Blind himself. And that certainly did explain how Blind managed to get an overlay of _the Pride_, but not why he had it. He frowned, having no idea if this meant anything at all.

Just as he was about to look away to see if the Gerudo were done investigating, he noticed something on the bent corner of the picture. Curiosity piqued, he took down the picture and flipped it over.

_To Kasuto – thank you for making sure that thief didn't get my pictobox! I hope you like this picture of you and your boy – I'm just sorry it's all I can give._

_Lenzo_

"Kasuto…?" Itaav mumbled quietly to himself. Flipping the picture over again, he stared at the guardsman called Kasuto, his brow furrowed in thought. He had heard of that man before. He was involved with something on _the Pride_ – he remembered hearing his asshole grandparents mentioning that name… But that had to have been at least eleven years ago. All he could remember was that Kasuto had died.

He put the pictograph back, again, unsure if this meant anything at all. All he knew, though, was that whether he was from _the Pride_ or not, Blind still destroyed his airship and had taken Zelda. Where he was from didn't matter; all that mattered was that Itaav would be reuniting that father-son pair very soon.

Curiosity quickly dismissed in favor of his boiling rage, Itaav silently exited the room and resumed waiting outside of it. It wasn't long after that the pirate king and the bit of his crew that had come with him exited wordlessly as well, and they all continued on. There was actually a lot that Ganondorf wanted to discuss with Nabooru at the moment, but he refrained due to the presence of Itaav. The boy didn't need to be hearing anything regarding the business of the _Naga_.

It seemed like there were all kinds of threats popping up everywhere, and Ganondorf was none too fond of it. That overlay Blind had was incredibly accurate – pointing out weaknesses in certain areas, with notes on other weak points in different areas not shown on the overlay and so on… Evidently, Blind's interest in Bleak was minor; just a stepping stone on his way to _the Pride_. And seeing as the pirate king and his crew had still not come into possession of the princess or the still unknown holder of Courage, the idea of someone else encroaching on _the Pride_ was definitely unwelcome… at least until they had those two.

But in real time, everything had come to a standstill. They had approached a passage that lead right into an open room. The room currently had seven people in it, all seven of them staring at the five Gerudo and the tag along. One of the seven, a very covered up smaller fellow, shot up and cried happily, "Itaav!"

And the pale teen recognized the voice instantly, even though the owner was disguised. And for all his initial dislike of the girl, he found he was genuinely relieved and near ecstatic to see that not only was she just fine – she wasn't just sitting around being a damsel in distress.

Whatever the case, the band of six she had been sitting with simply watched wide eyed as she rushed right towards the pale boy and threw herself at him. "You're all right! You're all right!" She was very near sobbing as she held tightly onto the Engineer, and Itaav found himself holding her right back in a near possessive matter. Of course, the Gerudo were watching him just as intently as the six across the room. Zelda looked up at him, eyes shining brightly with tears of relief, "And Link? Is he-"

But several things caught up to her. The first was that she had probably given away her identity the moment she ran over and embraced Itaav. The second, aside from those bandits, there were now Gerudo present. So her eyes, which had once been shining with relief, lost the shine in favor of panic. Itaav gave her a warning glance, which she understood to mean, 'Do not, whatever you do, do _not_ panic.'

"Ummmm… what's going on?" Niko said from his place with the other bandits.

And then, as seemed to be the fashion lately, chaos broke loose. Itaav and Zelda ducked to the side while Blind's bandits and Gerudo charged at each other wildly. Not wasting anytime, the two crawled over to the nearest exit. Zelda let out an ungainly squeal as a dagger just missed her head but cut her skull cap, causing her hair to spill out all over her face. Itaav took her arm and they both got up and made a run for exit to the room.

But Ganondorf kept aware of the two and their escape. There was a feeling in his gut that said something was off about those two… and when the girl's disguise fell apart when that knife grazed her hat, he saw why his gut was screaming at him. She matched the description of princess Zelda's past – of records that his ancestors had kept, that Koume and Kotake backed up. That was princess Zelda; he had no doubts of it.

"Nabooru!" Ganondorf roared, throwing Senza aside with a shocking burst of strength that came from this revelation. "Zelda is _here_!" But before he could go charge after the two, exiting through the nearest cave, Nudge blocked his way.

Nabooru, seeing her husband and the other Gerudo occupied, made the dash instead. But Gonzo blocked her path and charged, pushing her back. "The Miss is the Boss's, yeah! There's no way I'm letting you get to her!" He barked. But the woman merely snarled back, sweeping under him and tripping him, quickly trying to make up for lost time. But these idiots were persistent. Just as soon as she got free of Gonzo, Niko threw himself at her back and latched on as if his life depended on it. "Gonzo's right! You're not getting Miss Princess!"

And so the scuffle between the opposing sides continued as the two ran off down the tunnel proved to be to their benefit. But they kept running, not looking back.

"Itaav, why are the Gerudo here?" Zelda finally asked as they ran.

"Apparently, Bleak is their turf." Itaav told her. It was actually very hard to talk right now, since he was trying to focus on what seemed like a dozen things at once. The Gerudo were here, and they recognized Zelda somehow. The bandits also wanted Zelda. And goddess dammit, he didn't want any of them getting their hands on Zelda. But Itaav had unfinished business with Blind, and that was what was making his indecision run rampant. For some reason, he was compelled to make sure that no one laid hands on the princess. The possessiveness he'd felt the moment she had run to him had not gone away, and the way his mind was racing, he didn't think it would be leaving any time soon. Yet at the same time, he still wanted with every fiber of his being to end Blind.

_I've got the girl. We need to get out of here._ Said his first thoughts. But the thoughts at the back of his head were saying, _Blind needs to be put in his place._ And he also couldn't agree with that more, even though is first thoughts were saying, _This place is swarming with all sorts of baddies – there's no time for this!_

Still conflicted, he skidded to a halt at a rickety door. If they kept running straight, they might get caught… and that might be all well and good if the one who caught them was Blind, but the chances were significantly higher it would be someone else. "In here," he said quickly, opening the door and heading in. Zelda followed quickly.

They both paused for the briefest of moments. Zelda was no longer worried about groundwater. "It's a river." She said absently.

"If we follow it, we can get out," Itaav said. His rationality finally won out in the end, even though it put an extremely bad taste in his mouth. "Come on, I don't think it's deep. It'll be better if we walk through it. If Blind sends the Wolfos after us, it might throw them off." He was hoping, anyways. He had no idea how strong the creatures' sense of smell was.

Zelda nodded, hesitantly hopping into the water after Itaav. It really wasn't deep, going up to her ankles. They waded through silently for a bit, before Zelda asked, "Is Link alright?"

"He's fine. Pennysworth, not so much. He got nicked on the head, but the fairy said he should be fine." Itaav explained.

"Fairy?" She asked.

"You'll find out. What are you doing in that?" He glanced back at her for a moment, pointing to her thrown together disguise.

"Oh… um, apparently, Blind had a cousin who stood up for me. I uh…" She looked down, focusing on the water as it swished past her legs. "I… I hit him and I stole this from his closet."

Itaav paused, looking at the girl with a new respect. He had known she had to do something in order to manage to blend in with the bandits, but he hadn't imagined her resorting to violence. She was taking care of herself, despite all odds against her due to her upbringing. And he realized that he had misjudged her quite a bit.

But they both froze when they heard disturbances in the water – which couldn't have come from them since they weren't moving. The echoes of splashing water were bouncing around the walls… but the up-side to having long Hylian ears was a better sense of hearing. Whoever was there was behind them.

"We have to run." He said to her quietly. Whoever was there had heard their voices; they were already caught, and they had passed the point where there was still any dry ground to walk on. They could only hope to outrun them in the water. "Get ahead of me; I'll watch your back." Itaav told her quickly.

Zelda nodded, scurrying ahead. Her ears twitched as the sounds from behind them quickened. There was more than one. Itaav gritted his teeth. This was not good… especially when he heard the distinct growls and snarls of Wolfos. _Crap._ The water wasn't slowing the beasts down. "Run faster!" Itaav said to Zelda.

She didn't need to be told twice. Or once, for that matter. She was running as fast as she could, though the water was making her attempted sprints awkward. Itaav was running as well, but was keeping himself behind the girl, peering over his shoulder for the Wolfos. He saw them bounding from the shadows. He let out a curse, throwing a blast of wind their way. But he miscalculated, only throwing two of the beasts back. The third one that was unaffected took it as a signal to run faster, and before Itaav could whip up another spell, the Wolfos pounced on him.

Itaav yelled out in pain as the creature pinned him down into the water and sunk its fangs into his right arm. Zelda stopped, screaming in horror at the sight of the blood coming from the Engineer's arm and casting ribbons of bright red into the water. She started towards them and Itaav cried out, "Keep running!"

But she did not listen; she refused to leave. After having been separated from him and Link for who knows how long, she absolutely did not want to be separated again. She threw herself at the beast, pulling and pounding at its fur, screaming, "Let him _go_!"

The Wolfos snarled, its teeth sinking deeper into his arm. Itaav let out another scream of pain, "Goddess damn, you idiot! _LEAVE_!" He shouted, hoping his words would sink into the girl's thick skull. But again, Zelda ignored him, desperately pulling at the Wolfos's fur, barely noticing that the other two were running towards her. It was only when they growled and snapped at her, did she pause. And then Itaav's words sank… but too late. She could not outrun the canines, she knew that.

"Did you honestly think you were going to get away?"

Itaav had forgotten the pain of fangs sinking into his flesh, threatening to break his arm. The sound of that voice brought back all the rage that had swarmed within him earlier. It seemed he was going to get his chance yet… as soon as that damned dog got off of him.

"Let us go," Zelda pleaded weakly.

"I have worked very hard to make it this far, _princess_," Blind said, again with a perfectly pleasant expression but venomous voice, "And then you fall into my lap – the lovely little key to speed everything up… And you really think I'm just going to let you go?"

"Key to _what_?" Zelda asked, feeling more frustrated than ever before. In all honestly she didn't care for the answer, so she quickly went and added, "Please, there's no need for any of this!"

But Blind merely let out a cold laugh. "Apparently there _is_. Because you need to learn that the world isn't filled with the goodness you seem to believe is hidden within it."

And then, Itaav remembered the story of Kasuto. He laughed. It was enough to confuse even the Wolfos, and Blind only gave him the dirtiest of looks.

"I don't think being seconds away from having a mauled face is very funny." Blind spat.

And that caused Itaav to laugh even harder. "Pfffft! Big bad Blind has a _daddy complex_!" He finally blurted out before continuing his laughter. It all made so much sense now! The overlay of the Pride, the potential possibilities as to why he could use Zelda – it was all there!

Zelda did not understand, but from the look of deepest loathing upon Blind's expression, Itaav seemed to have struck a nerve. How come she was always the last to get everything?

"Kill him." Blind's voice came out in the coldest tone she had ever heard him use yet.

The Wolfos released Itaav's arm only to go and snap its jaws at the pale boy's face. But the moment that the creature had released him, Itaav had prepared a spell. The Wolfos's teeth were millimeters from his face before a massive updraft seemed to explode out of nowhere, sending Wolfos (both the one about to eat his face and the other two surrounding ones) and water splashing on the ceiling.

Zelda quickly ran to Itaav, helping him as he scrambled up. But the watery floor had him stumble… and Blind had been unaffected by the updraft. His knife out before the water even settled back down on the floor, he charged right for Itaav.

None of them heard the quick _splish splosh_-ing coming from behind Itaav and Zelda.

There was the sound of metal clashing against metal.

"Link!" Zelda cried happily.

* * *

So I've been doing Nanowrimo. For those unawares, that is National Novel Writing Month - which is November. But no worries, despite the fact that I have updated here, I am up to date and going right along schedule with my nano - which is much better than previous years when I actually put fanfics on month long hiatuses to focus solely on Nano. Isn't that funny? XD

Anyways... funny story about the name Kasuto. In Zelda II, you had towns called Saria, Nabooru, Mido, Rauru, Ruto, and so on and so forth. As most of you probably figured out, the towns later became people in Ocarina of Time. All except for two - a ghost town called Old Kasuto, and a hidden town called New Kasuto. Both Kasutos never became characters in OoT. So I made them people here. Yes, Old Kasuto is Blind's father, and New Kasuto is Blind. So yes, you heard it first. Blind's real name is Kasuto Jr. XD As for _what_ happened to Kasuto Sr, you'll find out soon enough.

Next chapter is the last of the Blind arc. Then we can move on to other things.

But first, a new chapter for _Reversal_.

**Purplegc**, it's not in the script. XD

**Midna Hytwilian**, crazy is all a matter of perspective, now ain't it? XD And no, it's not the weird. This is a different take on Ganny, and when he's not the main baddie, it's easier to poke fun at him. XD

**SubZeroChimera**, the healing power of hatred, neh? As for the voice in the back of his head, I must emphasize the fact that he _is_ the voice in the back of head. Kekeke... As for flying, maybe, maybe not. You'll see.

**XiXIXiX**, I know, last chapter was such a clunker. DX I don't know why, but it was just not working for me. But this one's better I think. :3 As for that last omake, one of these, you have my word, I will draw that one out. XD


	19. Empathic Wisdom

I update _Reversal_, you blink, and then all of a sudden I've updated this. That's because most of this was pre-written. DURRHURR I'M BEING PRODUCTIVE. Hmmm, I have mixed feelings on this chapter. There are things I like about and things I that I'm... well, not necessarily don't like, but a bit iffy about. Whatever. In the end, I'm on the side of liking it a bit more... but for reasons I'll get to down below.

But geeze, my chapters get longer and longer it seems. I'M NOT COMPLAINING.

* * *

A very irate Blind was now face to face with the other idiot tag-along of the princess's – who somehow managed to get ahold of a Gerudo blade. They backed off from each other, Blind examining his newest target with utmost contempt.

Link just stared back with determination, holding the scimitar that Jolene had left at Linebeck's ship at the ready. "Ciela," Link finally said to the fairy that had just caught up. "Check Itaav's arm."

The fairy looked at Itaav, who was giving her a deathly glare. But the fairy just stuck her tongue out at him - not that he could see due to her glow – and immediately began to see to his bloodied arm.

"Oh…" Was all Zelda could say, torn in between watching the stare down between Link and Blind and Ciela tended to the Engineer's arm, mumbling something about 'not being as bad as it looks.' She was just glad that the Wolfos had not risen after having been thrown around by Itaav's updraft (though she certainly found herself hoping they were not dead, ferocious beast or not).

Blind merely smirked at the blond boy's tough look, however. "I can deal with a simple Scaler."

Link gritted his teeth. Simple Scaler. It wasn't the first time he'd been called that and it was likely it wouldn't be the last. But it never stopped pissing him off. He was of lesser value to everyone else just because of his job – a job _that the Pride_ would've gone to shit over if 'simple Scalers' like him weren't around. Granted, he wasn't sure how Blind knew he was a Scaler, but it didn't particularly matter at the moment. It was enough to get him riled up and charging right back at Blind.

Blind's smirk grew just a tad at that, satisfied the boy feel for his bait. What he hadn't expected was that the Scaler would have some skill. Most Scalers didn't have any formal experience with a blade, only really using them to hack and slash overgrowth and debris from _the Pride_. This blond kid actually had something to his handling, though the way he moved said he didn't quite know it… which was an advantage to Blind, even though he had the shorter ranged weapon.

Blows that Link could have easily followed up on were easily misdirected with the slightest angling of Blind's knife. In one particular instance, the misdirection tactic ended up giving the thief a huge opening. Link was going for a powerful vertical slice, but Blind had stopped it with his own blade while Link's borrowed scimitar was still up high. The crime lord seized the opportunity to land a brutal kick on Link's upper abdomen. It sent the Scaler staggering back and putting him on the defensive immediately, because Blind was not about to give him time to compose himself.

_Clang! Clang! Screeeee-clang!_ The sounds of metal against metal continued to echo and bounce off the walls, and Zelda found herself worriedly looking on. She did not know at all which way the battle was going. "Oh Link…" she mumbled. She briefly looked at Itaav, who who was now standing quite ably by himself as Ciela tended to his arm. He was also watching the battle, though his look definitely said he did not like what he was seeing at all.

And he really didn't. Link was on 100% defense mode right now, and Blind was slowly beating at his defenses and would continue to do so until they broke. More than that, Link wasn't used to handling any sort of blade like he was now. Using a blade on an overgrown root on the hull of a ship was one thing, trying to cut up a moving target that knew what it was doing was more than just a completely different level – it was practically a completely different universe. There was only one thing he could think of that could possibly turn things around – and aside from it being completely ridiculous from a logical perspective, the idea of it annoyed Itaav to no end for reasons he couldn't quite explain. But desperate times called for desperate measures. "Princess, cheer for him." He told Zelda, ignoring the bad taste in his mouth.

She just stared at the Engineer blankly for a moment, trying to understand his meaning. Cheer for Link? Wouldn't that be a bit distracting, though? Distracting or not, however, she looked back to the fight, seeing that Link was very near being close to backing into a wall. The moment his back hit that wall, Blind would… "Link! You can do it! You can win, I believe in you!" She cried out.

Link felt his face heat up at Zelda's words. She was cheering him. She believed in him. And if she believed in him then… then he could do this. Yes. He could do this. He promised he would protect her the moment that she quite literally fell into his arms. He reinforced that promise by telling Anjean he would protect her. And he was not going to break his promise because some low life like Blind put him up against a wall.

Letting out a shout as he found the strength to push the scimitar forward, Link used the small opening Blind's surprise gave him to step forward and slash. Blind just barely missed, quickly stepping backwards and nearly slipping on the watery floor as he did so. It didn't help that he was perturbed at the sudden change in his opponent's demeanor. The blond had come rushing at him with some minor skill under his belt, but the way the kid was staring at him now… It was as if he had been fighting with a blade all his life. Blind frowned. He didn't think that girl's words would have such an effect…

The two stared each other down again before Link charged, ready to take on anything Blind threw at him. And the battle resumed, this time with Link putting Blind on the defensive. The shorter range of Blind's weapon, however, allowed more room for thief to get in the occasional strike … and one nearly got Link square in the face. He felt the sting against his cheek as the knife's blade clipped him, sending him jumping back before anything worse could happen. But by doing this, he was put on the defense again.

Zelda continued to watch intently, barely noticing that Itaav was examining his newly healed arm. Ciela flitted in front of Zelda's face, blocking her view and quickly saying, "We need to get out of here."

"What? Absolutely not! I refuse to leave without Link!" She said adamantly. A _sploosh_ further emphasized that as she stamped her foot in the shallow waterway.

The fairy looked over to Itaav, "Oh come on crazy guy! You talk some sense into her!"

Itaav, who was still quite unhappy with the fairy – regardless of whether or not she had just fixed his arm – said carelessly, "I'm staying. In fact…" He looked at the two exchanging blows with their blades. Specifically, his eyes were focused on Blind's movements. "There," he mumbled to himself beneath his breath. Before Zelda could ask what he'd meant, she saw him twitch a wrist ever so slightly.

The results of that twitch showed themselves in the battle; that twitch caused unseen force to bash right at Blind's wrist. The thief hissed a curse as he felt the magic slap at his wrist, causing him to drop his weapon. Link seized the opportunity that Itaav had given him. He put all of his strength in the strike.

Zelda looked away.

Itaav looked on with sick delight.

And then Link stopped just short.

Blind, rather than showing shock or surprise, merely forked an eyebrow by the blade just millimeters away from his jugular. "Well. Go ahead. Finish it." He said simply.

Link still had the hard edges of his ferocity in his face, but he looked puzzled. He didn't say anything; words escaped him at the moment in his indecision as to whether to lop Blind's head off or leave him be. Was Blind a good person – so far, all evidence proved that no, he was not a good person. Did he deserve to die? Maybe, but who was he to judge that? And the more important question to Link was, could he live with himself for taking a life – even that of a person who might very well deserve to die?

"You heard him, Link, finish it." Itaav said.

Zelda looked at Itaav, slightly shocked. But she quickly looked back to Link and Blind, still wondering what would happen – wondering what should happen. And even though Blind was absolutely horrid… she didn't want him dead. She didn't want anyone to die.

And Link seemed to agree. "No." He lowered the blade. "You're not worth it."

Blind gave Link a look of mild curiosity… and then grabbed Link by his left hand and jerked him forward, so his free fist made contact right with the blonde's face. The sword fell out of Link's grasp as he stumbled backwards, disorientated and thinking that in retrospect, he should've at least knocked Blind out.

Zelda nearly surged forward to try and help, but Itaav pulled her back by the shoulder. "Wait." It was said with the kind of coldness she expected to come from Blind.

"Mercy tends to leave loose ends," Blind said simply as he kicked at Link's side. The Scaler let out of a cry of pain and he staggered to the side. Despite tasting blood in his mouth, Link gritted his teeth and feebly tried to punch back. Blind caught the punch easily. And apparently, he didn't feel the need to use his fists. He just shoved Link, and that was enough to send Link down. The thief bent down, only saying with a chilly voice, "You should've killed me when you had the chance. You won't get a second one."

"Looks like I have the chance now." And then Blind felt the cold press of a blade point at his back.

It was rude and crude, but Link getting beaten away from his sword was a perfect distraction to pick up said sword. Which is exactly what Itaav had done.

Blind, somehow still managing to look smug and calm, merely stood. "Go ahead then. Let's see how much of a coward you are in comparison to your friend." He taunted.

He was, in fact, about to run Blind through, when Zelda cried out, "Itaav, no!"

That managed to get the Engineer to pause. "He killed my ship." Itaav growled through gritted teeth.

"Oh, so that piece of junk was yours, was it?" Blind chided.

Itaav's rage flared, and it only flared even more as Link said, "Itaav don't listen to him! He's not worth it!"

"Like hell he isn't! And who the hell are you to talk, Link?" The pale teen spat, pressing the blade ever closer on the thief's back.

"I know I said it was junk, but it wasn't," Link said, taking the time to scoot back and scramble up, "Please, Itaav. We don't have to stoop to his level."

But his words went in one ear and out the other. This man destroyed his ship and took his Zelda. And again, the thoughts at the back of his repeated, _He needs to put in his place._ With a snarl, he removed the blade from the man's back only so he could kick him down to his knees and then put the sword point right at the base of the man's neck.

"Itaav, _please_," Zelda said frantically. But she couldn't find the words to finish that plea.

Blind chuckled at her plea, despite feeling the tip of cold steel at his neck. "Princess, don't you see? This is exactly what I was talking about. Hate is what drives humanity. It's what drove me to do what I do; it's what's driving him-" he jerked his head slightly upwards to gesture to Itaav, "-to kill me."

Zelda looked from the thief to Itaav, who's red eyes were focused on the man he'd forced to his knees. She didn't believe it – hatred being the driving force of the world… but seeing Itaav like that, she almost did believe it. Almost. She took a deep breath and stepped forward. The movement caught Itaav's eye, and perhaps was the only thing that stilled him from ending the thief before him.

What caught _everyone_ completely off guard, however, was when Zelda knelt down in front of Blind, pulled him into and embrace and said, "I won't let you. If you kill him, you'll end up either hurting me or killing me."

Link, shocked and greatly distressed for a whole number of reasons began, "Zel-" But the girl didn't let him finish, "No. I'm not moving. Not until Itaav stops."

Itaav, himself, wasn't at all sure what to do. Zelda was putting her life on the line for a man she tried to escape from; from a man she very clearly didn't care for. Worst of all, despite all of his earlier senses of possession for the girl, he still had a mind to cut her down along with Blind. In fact, some extremely hateful part of him wanted to taunt her, prove to her that he could kill her any damned time he wanted and that the only reason she was still around was because she belonged to him.

"Move." Itaav snarled at her.

"No." She said.

The Engineer gritted his teeth and commanded once again, "_Move_."

And Zelda said yet again, "No." The only sound that was left in the passage was the water continuing along its current and slapping against the walls.

"You're insane." Blind whispered to her. "He'll do it."

But she disregarded the thief's words and made one last appeal. "Please, Itaav. Don't do this. You're better than this."

And_ those_ words actually did reach him. While he was still sorely tempted to drive that blade through the man, the words 'You're better than this,' bounced around in his head. _I'm better than this… I'm better. I'm better than Blind._ He was better. Because he was better, he had no need to destroy the pest before him. But even with that thought process, it was still difficult to keep himself from doing it. He was not like Link – he had no compunctions about putting a sword through this man… He, with all of his heart and soul, wanted to kill this man. _… He is not worth my time. He is a common thief who happened upon some good luck. He is not worth my time._ Said the thoughts at the back of his head, which moments ago was urging him to put the man in his place. _He knows I can kill him. That is all that matters._ And it seemed that both his surface thoughts and the ones in the back of his head had echoed that at the same moment.

Itaav finally said in an expressionless tone, "I won't kill him." But the blade was still at the back of the man's neck. "But if he tries anything the moment I take this sword away… I will kill him very happily."

Zelda still held onto Blind, but she nodded at Itaav's words. Whispering to the thief, she said, "Please. Just let us go…"

But the thief was still having an extremely difficult time understanding what had just happened. This girl had gone and done something near suicidal. If she hadn't somehow convinced her friend to stay the blade, he would've said it was completely suicidal. The whole situation just did not fit the meshes that he had carved out in his brain. His mind was, for lack of a less outrageous claim, blown. But he would still act. He could not lose. He had worked far too hard for all of this and just because one girl had managed to prove him wrong wasn't going to change anything. He felt the blade come away from his neck… and he was about to use the girl holding onto him at that very moment as a shield…

"I'm sorry." Zelda said.

And he was taken completely off guard yet again. She pulled away from him, looking him right in the eyes. "I'm sorry, Mister Blind. For what happened to your father. I don't know what happened but… you blame _the Pride_ for it. And… I'm sorry that it drove you to all this." And if he thought that his mind couldn't get even more blown, her eyes were watering. She was about to _cry_ because she was sorry for what _the Pride_ did to him and she didn't even know what happened?

She then stood, leaving Blind rather dumbstruck, and faced the two boys and the fairy with a feeble smile. Itaav, still looking incredibly frightening, no longer held the scimitar. Link seemed to have reclaimed it, and was now looking at Zelda with a mixture of shock and awe.

"What are we waiting for?" Ciela finally shrieked. "Let's _go_!"

Link and Zelda ran ahead, following closely behind the rapidly flying Ciela. But Itaav lingered for only a moment, ears twitching at the sounds of steps echoing from both sides. A group was coming… He glared at Blind, who still seemed remarkably out of sorts. But Itaav didn't care. All he said before following suit behind Link and Zelda was, "If the Gerudo don't do it first, know that if I see you again, I'll kill you. She can't protect you twice."

* * *

The water had eventually risen to their waists, but Link assured that the water did not rise any higher. Ciela, it seemed, had decided that Link needed a different entrance into Blind's labyrinth "just in case." It ended up that the local well happened to be another one of the entrances… as long as one didn't think too hard about what was in the water, anyways.

When they had climbed out the well, it seemed the action hadn't just occurred only in Blind's hideout. From the looks of it, Bleak seemed to be in more chaos than normal. More than that, there was a great deal more women out on the streets, all with flaming red hair. It seemed even though they had escaped Blind, they still hadn't quite escaped the Gerudo. Whether they were out on work or play, they did not try to find out. Ciela guided them carefully through the streets, and while completely avoiding the pirates was out of the question, they did manage not to draw any attention to themselves – which was quite the accomplishment as they were soaking wet up to their waists and Link and Zelda did not dare ask Itaav for a blow drying treatment.

In fact, Zelda and Link found themselves preferring to not even acknowledge that the Engineer was there, right behind them. Zelda, for one, was quite terrified of what Itaav seemed to be capable of. Had she not stepped in, he would definitely have killed Blind… Honestly, she wasn't even sure how she managed to stop him, nor if she would do the same thing over if she was somehow able to turn back time.

And Link, yet again, found himself quite thoroughly upset with the Engineer for endangering Zelda. The blond boy had known him for years; he knew when Itaav was serious about something, and he knew that Itaav had seriously considered cutting Zelda down along with Blind. But for all that anger, it also raised up an incredible amount of concern regarding the Engineer. He was Link's friend… but from the moment Zelda fell into their lives, Itaav… Itaav had changed. And not for the better.

But with all the worry about the Gerudo catching them and somehow knowing who they were, Link wasn't able to think too much on it. And he didn't want to. Not now while they were running. It was most definitely not a good time to be distracted.

Somehow managing to make it through with little Gerudo attention caught, Ciela rushed them towards the SS Linebeck, which apparently had been deserted since Jolene whisked Linebeck off somewhere. They all shut themselves below deck, Ciela whispering, "We need to stay low here until Linebeck comes back."

"What then?" Zelda whispered back.

"He'll sail off somewhere. He always does after Jolene visits. And he'll give you a free ride too – it's the _least_ he can do." And from the harshness in her whisper, Link was willing to bet that if Linebeck fought the fairy's decision, he would be in for an earful. "Anyways, I'm going to check on Pennysworth. Remember, not a sound!" And then she flitted off.

Zelda and Link found themselves immediately sinking to the floor. But they were not relieved. Just tired. Incredibly tired. They did not speak, both under the opinion that any conversation could wait until tomorrow. Zelda fell asleep on Link's shoulder almost immediately. But Link stayed awake for as long as he could, keeping a watchful eye on Itaav, who had retreated to the corner farthest from them in the cargo bay. But eventually he couldn't any longer. And it was quiet and dark… Sleep overtook him.

Itaav stayed awake longest. He was awake until a hazy light began to seep in through the cracks of the ship. Because he hadn't been stupid. He'd known that Link and Zelda had been tuning him out. And he couldn't blame them. The events replayed in his head and… and he really could not blame them.

Not because of his willingness to kill Blind, however. That did not disturb him in the slightest. It was Zelda that disturbed him. And it went beyond his first impression of not liking her. It seemed the episode in Blind's hideout seemed to awaken that deep seated dislike he'd had for her before, except perhaps stronger than his initial first impression had given him. When she was shielding Blind, however weak the attempt was, he actually relished the idea of putting her through suffering and pain. But perhaps what was more disturbing than that was for all the hatred he seemed to have for her… he wanted her.

Seeing Zelda there, sleeping so innocently on Link's shoulder… He wanted to steal her away, make her his through and through… and not for any romantic attachment. Back in Blind's hideout, he had begun to think of the girl as a possession. He just wanted her for the sake of having her… and then promptly making sure that no one else laid hands on her because she was his. And because of that, he found deep feelings of loathing reawakening within him, all directed at Link, not helped by the fact that he now owed his life twice over to him.

Itaav stared at the two. Zelda, with an odd combination of hatred and lust. And then Link, with envy and a bit more hatred thrown in.

And he didn't know what on earth was wrong with him.

Eventually, overwhelmed and incredibly confused, Itaav just shut down.

He dreamt of the frightening unending blackness.

* * *

When Kasuto, Jr. was nine years old, his mother died. His father, Kasuto, Sr., guardsman to _the Pride of the Goddesses_ had been devastated. But despite the fact that the family had broken, and that Kasuto, Sr. was always terribly busy, he always managed to find time for his son. Junior couldn't have been happier, to be honest.

Until one day, as an eleven year old boy, he joined his father on patrol in the Inner Wall of _the Pride_. And Junior then became witness to the vast differences in living conditions between Walls. He couldn't understand it. Why did the children of the Inner Wall have bigger rations? Why did they not work? Why did they have whole apartment complexes for just one family? And it seemed he had brought up questions that his father, the ever loyal guardsman, had never once thought of. Kasuto, Sr. then began appealing to the Inner Council about equality between social classes, hopefull that this would lead to the eventual ending of borders between Inner and Outer Walls.

The appeal was rejected, of course. It never even made it to the king's ears, because the king could not be bothered with such trivial matters.

And that stirred something within Junior's father. He continued to appeal… and was eventually fired from his guardsman's post because of it. But even then, that did not stop Kasuto, Sr. Eventually, things escalated to the point where Junior's father was considered a domestic terrorist. But Kasuto, Sr. would not give up – not for the chance of giving his son and the sons of others a chance at a better a life.

They went on the run.

But they were caught.

Kasuto, Sr. was quickly and silently disposed of. If the king knew that the man existed, he did an incredible job of denying that an uprising of any sort had nearly occurred upon _the Pride_.

Junior was another matter entirely. They could quickly and quietly dispose of a thirty-eight year old man. A twelve year old child, however, was a different matter. But they could not have Junior thrown into the orphan barracks, to tell of his father the 'hero.' Kasuto, Sr. could not be made a martyr of. So after a bit of digging, they found an aunt on the ruddy isle of Bleak and sent him there.

And Junior's life flipped upside down. The audacity of the people who had killed his father, never even listening to what the man had to say. The frivolity of _the Pride_'s Inner Wall spurned a small flame of hatred within him… and eventually, the small flame of hatred grew to engulf the whole _Pride_ in his eyes. Because where were those fellows who fought along with his father? In the end, they were not there. The people of _the Pride_… they were nothing but plague infested rats.

He would get rid of the infestation.

Junior had died with Kasuto, Sr. Blind the thief was born the moment he set foot on Bleak.

It was quite something for a boy not even in his teens to garner such a horrid reputation in a short time. By the time he was fourteen, he was leading a gang. And by the time he was sixteen, he had the toughest and most fearsome gang on Bleak. That was also when his plans really began to form. He gathered contacts, recruited members that had come from _the Pride_, obtained an overlay of the vast ship, a chart of the Great Sea… And he would not use kind words and false promises, as his father had done while he lead his group on _the Pride_. That didn't work – harsh consequences and complete control would be the way to win. Then he'd worm his way to the Continent and make that his own. And then _the Pride_ would have nowhere to go. And perhaps, when they came begging, he would allow them to dock… Perhaps. But probably not.

So at twenty-three, having taken Bleak for himself, he was ready to move to the next step. That was until the annoying Scrub Pennysworth had somehow managed to figure everything out – his past, his plans, all of his contacts… So the scrub needed to die before he could continue with his plans, because the scrub wanted control. And he had spent weeks trying to get ahold of the irritating creature. Eventually, it got to the point where he had asked his cousin to go dress him in drag so he had a chance of sneaking into the Dancing Cat. And he had never imagined that the delightfully clueless girl whose coattails he'd ridden into the Cat had been the princess of _the Pride_.

And that could change the whole dynamic of everything – move things along so quickly. Because the princesses of _the Pride_ held a gift from one of the goddesses. It was a gift he only knew about because his mother – rest her soul – had been a librarian on the monstrosity of ship they had lived on. She'd told him stories… and he believed them. That Triforce of Wisdom… it the power to turn the tables on everyone and everything. And that very incident with the princess only proved to him the Triforce existed. As she had turned around to run with her friends… he saw it for the briefest of moments… A slight golden glow from her hand.

He did believe in the Triforce… But even if he hadn't believed in it, the princess could be so useful. Such a lovely little bargaining chip that he would never give up. He would destroy _the Pride_ using its own precious princess against it… Which wasn't to say she would've been safe from him – far from it. He had every intention of crushing everything she believed in and absolutely breaking her.

How he never expected that she would break him.

After the princess and her friends escaped via the well-line, Blind was still left… rather blank. And the Gerudo obviously seized that opportunity, recognizing him as leader and immediately going after him. He must've pissed them off royally too, seeing as the Gerudo King had decided to punish him. Which wasn't to say he went easily. Still completely bewildered as to the girl's actions, he still managed to squirm his way out of Gerudo grasp due to his Wolfos gaining consciousness. The beasts, unwilling to see their master harmed caused all sorts of hell for the Pirate King and his crew.

So he ran for it, all the while realizing that his dreams of destroying the Pride had come to a very startling halt.

He ran to the only place that he considered safe, grateful that the Gerudo wandering the streets let him be (but only because they all seemed quite drunk).

It had been his aunt's house while she had lived. Technically, it was now Falbi's house. And it was also completely deserted. There were thick layers of dust on everything – which was understandable since his cousin had lived in the hideout when he had joined the gang. But he was willing to bet the gang was over now. The Gerudo were certainly going to see to that. If Falbi survived he would come here.

Blind simply sat at the dusty table, listening to the sounds outside of the small ramshackle house. The Gerudo did not seem to be stalking this general area of town, but he still kept alert.

Eventually, Falbi did enter the house… along with six others.

Blind forked an eyebrow at the sight of Falbi with six he recognized from his gang. "Ah, make yourselves at home guys." Falbi said to the six, who seemed to be already doing just that.

As soon as they saw Blind sitting at the table they rushed towards him "Boss!" They began, but Blind held a hand up and gave them all harsh stares. "The gang's dead. Leave."

"B-but Boss! We can still take 'em, yeah!"

"Yeah, you're the coolest, Boss!"

He silenced anything else they had to say with an ever harder glare. "Leave."

They all stared at him, mixed expressions of defeat and anger. But they said nothing, filing out of the house.

Falbi gave him a flat look. "You know, this is _my_ house."

He said nothing, just giving his cousin the same deathly glare he'd given the six from before.

With a defeated sigh, Falbi just asked, "What happened to the girl?"

"Escaped."

"You let her?" His cousin asked in puzzled surprise.

Blind remained silent, but not because he had nothing to say, but because he didn't know how to answer. The confusion again resurfacing, he explained in detail what had happened beneath the well. About the boy who wanted to kill him, how the princess had saved his life, and how she apologized for something she hadn't the slightest clue about. And by the time he had finished telling his cousin the story, he found that for the first time in a truly long while… he didn't know what to do.

He had spent so long planning the downfall of _the Pride_, now that the Gerudo had essentially made sure it wasn't going to happen the way he had planned… he was at a loss. How did he pick up the pieces? How would he start over… and perhaps the most defining question of all… did he want to start over? He had kept to himself the bit about seeing the Triforce upon the princess's hand, unsure as to how his cousin would react to hearing that the girl's suicidal actions seemed to resonate with Wisdom… Mostly because even he wasn't quite sure how the resonated with it either.

"Are you still angry at _the Pride_?" Falbi finally asked.

Blind remained silent for a moment… and then gave an answer he had not thought he would give. "Yes… and no."

"What do you mean?"

"That princess…" Blind began… but he was unable to find the correct words. But for the first time in a very long while, he seemed to be free of any pent up anger. And it was… dare he say it… nice. And eventually, he finished by saying, "Maybe not everyone on _the Pride_ is so bad." And _that_ was the last thing Falbi had ever expected to hear from his cousin. The shock was evident enough on his face that Blind added, with the hate that always seemed to lie somewhere within him coming back, "I still want to end it, though. What the Pride is… it doesn't belong in the world. I'll see that it gets beached one day." And maybe that one day, those fools behind the Inner Wall would learn a thing or two if he decided to show them any scrap of mercy.

Stunned, Falbi was yet again at a loss for words. To think that such an empathic display would cause such a thing in his cousin. Granted, he could tell that even though the goals might have changed ever so slightly, Blind had not changed. He was still an incredibly dangerous and angry man… But something in him had shifted, if only a bit. And hopefully for the better. And so Falbi smiled at his cousin, asking, "So what are you going to do now?"

The former crime lord of Bleak leaned against the back of the chair, his earlier anger and hate having died down again in favor of the calm he was growing to like more and more with each passing moment. "I guess I'll see what there is for me outside of Bleak." He glanced over at Falbi, "Want to come?"

Falbi held his hands up, as if trying to push away the very aura of his cousin, and said, "No. No way. I have had quite enough adventure under your watch for one lifetime. You can count me out, I'm staying here."

And then Blind smiled.

Again, the thief's cousin was completely taken aback. Because this was not the cold humorless smile that Blind always had. It was a genuine smile. And again it proved to Falbi that he was making the incredibly right decision to sit this little adventure out.

Standing up, Blind sighed, seemingly, for the first time in a very long time, quite content. Clapping his cousin on the shoulder he said, "Then I'll see you when I see you."

And then he headed out of the door of the house.

Blind was greeted by an excited bark and enormous canine jumping on him. He pushed the Wolfos back a bit, smiling yet again to see that at least one of his faithful creatures had survived the encounter with the Gerudo, and finding himself hoping that the other two were fine. Even more surprising was that the six of his former gang had apparently been waiting outside.

Gonzo had his arms crossed and a very foul look on his face. "Now listen up, Boss! We don't care what you say, we're stickin' with you no matter what you say, yeah? You're the toughest, no nonsense boss any of us has had, and we ain't leaving."

"Yeah, you can blind us, mute us, cut off our fingers or what but we're staying!" Outspoken Niko cried. But from the looks on the rest of the bandits, it seemed they wanted to shush him, as if not to give Blind any ideas.

Absently stroking the Wolfos's head, Blind was still a bit surprised to see that these six had wanted to stick by him so badly. It seemed Zelda wasn't the only one causing him to change his mind about people. It seemed that of all the people in his gang, these had been the only six who weren't in the gang for the sake of just being there because it was safer. Familiar smirk coming upon the former crime lord's face, he pushed the Wolfos off him completely and said snidely, "Willing to stay no matter what horrors I inflict on you?"

Niko nodded and stepped up adamantly. The rest had actually gone a few shades paler.

"Well then… what about a change of scenery?" And then everyone just frowned in confusion, to which Blind continued and said, "How do you all feel about piracy?"

* * *

AND HERPA A DERPA, the end of another chapter. I really do like developing Itaav's character. There are sometimes I go, "Hmm, he's really not Vaati..." and then it's chapters like these that make me go, "Oh wait, yes he is." And I like that. Granted, the whole point of the Blind arc was to get Itaav to... well, snap. So this means the story is going to start getting really dark soon, and I am going to have boost up the rating to M somewhere along the way for sure. I also kind of like how Zelda's characters is turning out. It's pretty much the opposite of Itaav. She manages to grow more empathic as the story progresses, and she may not be as feisty as other Zeldas, but I think that's what makes me like her. Most Zeldas seem to be portrayed as either helpless, tomboyish, or just very strategic. This Zelda doesn't really fit into any of those molds, and I quite like that.

And yes, as I suspected, Blind will be making a re-occurrence sometime later in the story, as will the crew. Haha, nothing like going from thief to pirate, though the two aren't mutually exclusive.

Other news, been playing Skyward Sword. Still haven't finished it, but as I understand it, I'm nearly there. SAD FACE. But this is good, because Ghirahim will eventually pop up in this story. Good news for those of you who haven't played SS yet and probably won't be able to for a while, though: he won't be appearing till much later in the story. And boy-howdy do I got big plans. He really will fit perfectly into the slot I needed that was previously vacant in the story. OHOHOHO. As for other SS characters, no idea as of yet.

**SubZeroChimera**, hmmm, hope you didn't want that cookie too much.

**Midna Hytwilian**, and goddamn is it showing more than ever right here.

**XiXIXiX**, your omakes make my day! XD I definitely need to get off my lazy butt and draw a few of them out already. -w-

**Purplegc**, I'm glad you liked that chapter. I definitely liked the chaos as well. And there will be more chaos to come in the future. Especially when a certain character from Skyward Sword flamboyantly dances in. -w-


	20. Dragonroost Island

_I_ _LIVE_. Chapter's kind of on the short side... and boring. Because this is a set-up chapter. Sorry. But things should pick up again next chapter.

This chapter isn't really checked over. I will check it over completely tomorrow, but I know you guys have been waiting a while so I just wanted to get this out. X3

* * *

Ganondorf did not look forward to meeting with Koume and Kotake again. Their demeanor had not been very welcoming since their last grim prophecy, so the pirate king had been going to great lengths to avoid making contact with them. Bit with the appearance of the Princess Zelda on Bleak and very much off of _the Pride_, he couldn't afford misinformation simply for the sake of his pride.

Their lower deck was still as foggy and perfumed as ever, and Ganondorf still hated the idea of actually entering their room proper. But with no other choice laid before him, he turned the handle and pushed the door open. The misty incense assaulted him, but the shrill laughter was what had him flinch.

"If it isn't the dead man walking!" One of the witches (he couldn't tell which one due to all the pseudo-fog) cackled. Apparently, the comment had been so amusing, both witches burst out into shrill laughter.

"Shut up." He snarled, in no mood to show anyone respect of any sort.

"Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist," the other witch cooed, "You're just upset that the little princess escaped you."

"You never said she would be on Bleak." He snapped.

"We said the Three would find each other," one witch replied. The other continued, "We never said _where_."

Ganondorf gritted his teeth. "I need _specifics_. Last time, you gave me the floating palace and the mainland – you never said _Bleak_. _I_ don't want to die, I'm sure she doesn't want to die, and the bearer of Courage – I am sure – shares those sentiments. If we don't start working to change things _now_ – we are all _doomed_."

For reasons the male Gerudo could not understand, the two witches burst out into their insane laughter once again. "Little Ganny, having no idea how prophecies work!" One said while the other continued, "If we said you shall fall, then you shall! Our predictions are written in stone, handed down to us by the guiding hand of Fate!"

Oh how he wanted to punch something, maybe even flip of a table. But he just stood his ground, doing his best to maintain a temper that seemed to be getting more difficult to contain with each passing day. Taking a deep breath, he then growled slowly, "Then tell the guiding hand of Fate to be a little more helpful."

There just seemed to be no end to their laughter.

And this time he did punch something. He punched the wall nearest him, sending small chunks and splinters of wood everywhere. The laughter of the witches stopped. He could make out their silhouettes snapping to attention, staring right at him. He just stood his ground, jaw clenched and undeterred. He was the boss here – the _king_ - and they would do well to remember that. "Give me something to work with, or you can get comfortable in the brig." He said venomously.

Koume stepped out from the mist, shaking her head almost disappointedly, "Oh, tut tut. It's not as simple as plucking a prophecy from the air, you know."

Kotake walked out of the mist as well, pacing back and forth in front of her sister. "Not at all. Prophesizing is very difficult work, you know."

"Start working, then." Ganondorf said plainly with a smile that didn't look at all friendly.

"Oh but we already did." Kotake said brightly as Koume cackled, "Just got one not five minutes before you came in."

Ganondorf took a moment to keep all of his anger contained. It required all of his self-control not to tear the rest of the wall apart and wreck the foundations of the lower deck. After around of minute of absolute silence from the pirate king, he finally took several deep breaths and said, "That would have been nice to know as soon as I had entered the room."

"Oh but you didn't ask!" Said the blue clothed witched.

Koume continued, "You just came in and started going off on a tangent! Goodness, you young people today-"

"You just never get straight to the point!" They chanted simultaneously before launching into yet another fit of giggles.

Frustrated beyond all belief, the male Gerudo massaged his temples and said tiredly, "Just tell me what you saw."

The witches, still giggling, linked their arms and began to dance, their steps slowly taking them in a circle as they recited, "Finding the two you seek is simple as can be; where there is one, the other you shall see! There is another with them, possibly a bringer of mayhem. But the servant still nears, and it shall not be long before he appears!"

And here it sounded so cheerful from the audience's point of view. Needless to say, he did not clap as they stopped and continued to guffaw wildly. Especially since he was very concerned with that last line. "He'll find them? Cole will find them?" He asked stoically.

"Oh yes! You'd best pick up the pace, Ganny!" Kotake said with a chortle, returning to the misty back of the room.

"But _where_?" He asked, again feeling the frustration rise.

And to his surprise, Koume answered him. Grinning with yellowing and near rotten teeth, she hissed, "Somewhere near," before hooting with laughter and retreating to the back of the room with her sister. Their hysterically screeches seemed to echo within the tiny room, and Ganondorf left feeling more irritated and troubled than when he had gone in.

* * *

When Zelda awoke, she was quite surprised to find that the room was swaying. Of course, as memories of the night before flooded her mind, she remembered that she not in a room, but the cargo bay of a ship. That Linebeck person must have cast off while they slept… And then she'd realized that she'd fallen asleep on Link (who seemed uninterrupted from her waking) and she wasn't at all sure whether to be embarrassed or not.

She stood up hastily, nearly tumbling due to the swaying of the ship. She was feeling oddly self-conscious, never having fallen asleep on a boy that wasn't her brother – and even that had not happened since they were small children and their mother still lived. Would he think less of her, she wondered.

… Speaking of thinking less of her, she looked around the cargo bay and was surprised to see that Itaav was not present. Zelda frowned, wondering whether she should be relieved, worried, or some strange mix of both. She had not forgotten the previous night – both his protectiveness of her… and the willingness to cut through her.

That train of thought was quickly dismissed when the floor suddenly lurched.

Zelda yelped as she caught herself, while Link awoke from the sudden movement of the ship. He scrambled up, exclaiming, "What was that?

Zelda shrugged helplessly, but followed Link to the stairs and up to the deck.

The two winced as the light of day hit them right in the face as they exited the dim cargo bay. Their eyes adjusting quickly, they temporarily forgot the ship's earlier lurch at the sight before them. They quickly went to the rails at the edge of the deck, looking out at pure ocean without the slightest bit of mist to impede their vision. And despite having spent only two and a half days in the Misty Sea, they couldn't have been gladder to be out of it.

But any excitement that was brought either of them was taken back as the SS Linebeck made another ugly lurch. They held onto rails tightly, looking at each other worriedly and wondering if there was something horribly wrong with the boat.

"Oh, so you two are finally up!" Ciela sounded as unconcerned as could be as she flitted in between their heads.

"What's going on?" Zelda asked, her voice coming out higher than normal.

"Oh, Pennysworth and Linebeck are fighting over the wheel." Again, she sounded as if there wasn't anything at all wrong.

But Link's jaw practically dropped as the ship made another vicious lurch. "They're fighting over the _wheel_? As in the one that controls the _rudder_?"

"That's kind of the only one on a ship."

_She's acting like this isn't dangerous!_ Link thought. That aside, he rushed off to the stern with Zelda following close behind. And sure enough, as they neared the steering wheel, arguing could be heard,

"_No_! My livelihood is back on Bleak!"

"Yes! You're _destroyed_ livelihood!"

"I can rebuild! Let go of the damned wheel!"

"You don't even know _how_ to handle a boat!"

Link and Zelda arrived just in time to Linebeck wrench the wheel back his way. They braced themselves, preparing for the ship's sudden turn. But despite the fact that it felt like they were tumbling on the waves in an invisible storm, Pennysworth and Linebeck kept arguing. Finally Link shouted, "Passengers on board, remember?"

Both chip captain and scrub stared absently at the blond boy. Then Pennysworth finally let go of the wheel and stomped over to Link, shoving a twig-like finger in his chest. "This is _your_ fault!" Then he looked over to Zelda, "And hers! And that other blasted friend of yours in the Crow's Nest!"

"_Our_ fault?" Link said indignantly. "You were the one who pissed off a maniac!"

"Tch, yeah, a _dead_ maniac." Pennysworth spat, before turning back to Linebeck to say, "Which is why I should be back in Bleak!" He shouted so loudly, several nuts flew out of his snout and right at the ship captain, who had ducked down just in time.

Linebeck was just about to shout something right back when Zelda chimed in, "Oh, but Mister Blind isn't dead."

Pennysworth's bark paled. He slowly faced Zelda. "B-but Ciela said-"

"Ciela said the Gerudo were around, never that she saw them carry Blind off, you nincompoop!" Linebeck barked. "Start cleaning the sap out of your ears!"

"O-oh…" And then Pennysworth nervously said, "Ah, perhaps… perhaps it is for the best you brought me along… Where are we going?"

"Feh, if you kept yelling I might have said _you_ were going overboard," Linebeck said, obviously still annoyed at the scrub's earlier attempts to hijack the ship. But he answered the original question anyways, "Dragonroost – the Gerudo never head there." The tiniest cackle entered his voice as he said it.

"You never gave Jolene the boot, did you?" Pennysworth asked flatly.

"That's none of your business!"

"Um, all right. Quick question," Link interrupted. "Dragonroost?"

Zelda, who had been wondering why the name sounded familiar, perked up upon remembering. "Oh! Dragonroost Island! That's where the Zora come from. And the Rito! Oh, I've always wanted to see them!" She rocked back and forth on her heals excitedly as she spoke. "There's supposed to be a huge dragon that lives at the top of the summit of the island too! I wonder if he's fierce?" The last statement was mostly an afterthought.

"It explains Dragon_roost_," Link nodded in understanding. "I didn't know the Zora and Rito were from the same place, though."

Just as Link had finished his sentence a trio of shadows passed over the deck and back, hovering in place. Glancing up, they saw the shadows happened to belong to three Rito, who were hovering around the Crow's Nest, seemingly speaking to Itaav. Link frowned at the sight of the Engineer, wondering if he was any better or worse from last night. A small flash of gold joined Itaav and the Rito, and after a few moments, Ciela descended to where Link, Linebeck, Pennysworth and Zelda were, with the bird men following closely behind.

"Oh cripes…" Link heard Linebeck mumble. But the captain's grimace turned into one of fake cheeriness as the Rito landed. Looking at the one in the center, Linebeck said with false liveliness, "Quill! What brings you down upon my ship?"

The Rito man called Quill inclined his head ever so slightly and said, "Apologies, Linebeck. It seems that Prince Komali has flown off. We only wish to know if you've seen him at all. Your lookout hasn't seen him, so I doubt you have, but it doesn't hurt to ask."

Linebeck frowned and shook his head. "No… flown off, though… That means it's time for the Festival of the Guardians, isn't it?"

Quill nodded, "Indeed. Will you be staying for the festivities?" He glanced at Link and Zelda, "I've noticed you have additions to your crew. If this is their first time here, I think it would be a rewarding experience for them."

But the captain just had the flattest of looks on his face. "You make it sound like I have a choice. Of course, I will. I couldn't leave even if I wanted to." But the way that the man had spoken made it seem like it wasn't out of the eagerness for the upcoming festivities.

The smallest trace of a smile came upon Quill's hawk-like face, though the upper beak that served as his nose obscured it somewhat. "Very well then." He looked to Link and Zelda - both of whom were too fascinated to really find words - and gave them a small bow. "I hope you enjoy your time at Dragonroost." Quill then looked to Pennysworth, who seemed to go back to his earlier surly demeanor with his twiggy arms crossed and his snout up in a "better than thou" fashion. "Very nice to see you again, Pennysworth… but the Chieftain won't tolerate any swindling out of you, you know." And without saying anything else, all three of the Rito flew off before Pennysworth could even huff.

Shortly after the Rito took off, Zelda had found her voice and gleefully said, "Oh wow! The Rito are even more amazing than I'd read!" She looked to Link excitedly and exclaimed, "Did you see their wings? They fold into their arms and just pop back out when they fly! And a festival! How exciting!"

Link smiled, but said nothing. He was more concerned with the probability of Cole or the Gerudo – or both – finding them now that they were out of the Misty Sea. As much of a relief as seeing the ocean with a sputtering of islands on the distant horizon clearly was, that also meant whoever was chasing them could see just as well. The Scaler was none too keen about staying in one place for too long – and as happy as he was to see that Zelda was excited for the festival, he was pretty sure their smartest move would be to continue sailing…

As for where, he had no idea.

Nonetheless, much as he hated to tear down the girl's hopes, he said, "I don't think we can stay, Zelda." The princess frowned, about to say something, but the captain of the ship interrupted.

"You don't have a choice either, you know." Linebeck said to them flatly. "The Rito and the Zora get finicky about people coming and going during the festival."

"What?" Link asked in alarm.

"Exactly what it sounds like, idiot," Pennysworth said, sounding as if he had repeated this for the umpteenth time. "When the Festival of Guardians begins, people can take port but they can't leave until the festival's over."

Even Zelda seemed to find this odd, as she asked, "But why? That seems inconvenient to non-natives."

Ciela answered this time in place of her coarser fellows, "Because it's tradition. Dragonroost is small and pretty out of the way from the Continent, so they don't get many visitors. And when they do, they need to adhere to customs or face strict penalties. In this case, it's more superstition, but it's strictly enforced."

"So they keep people stuck on the island for a week because of a _superstition_?" Link asked unbelievingly.

"What's the superstition?" Zelda asked curiously.

"Since the Guardians are busy enjoying the festival, they won't be guarding – so it's not safe to set sail in the waters around the island. Which isn't true beca-"

"_No need to tell them about that_!" Both Pennysworth and Linebeck said in unison.

"Anyways," Ciela went on, "It's tradition – and one that the neither the Rito nor the Zora will break anytime soon."

Link grimaced, not liking the sound of that at all. Zelda, on the other hand, was a bit excited. Yes, she could understand why Link had wanted to move on but… this was a new culture and a new experience, and it would most definitely be nice to be a part of something that wasn't life threatening for a nice change. And best of all, she was just like any other person. She could enjoy a festival without having to worry about formalities or appearances… The prospect was exciting enough for her to forget that Itaav had been terrifying the night before and she called out to him on the Crow's Nest, "Itaav, we're all going to a festival! Isn't that exciting?"

Rather than shouting a response, he simply gave her a thumb's up.

"What's that mean?" She whispered to Link.

The blond boy, who still wasn't entirely happy, responded dejectedly, "It means he's all for it."

Bouncing on her toes, she clapped her hands quietly with excitement. "Ooh, I can't wait!" She turned quickly to look at the captain and asked, "Mr. Linebeck, when will we get there?"

"Soon," he said carelessly. "You can see it on the horizon now."

And sure enough, looking towards the horizon, there was a single mountain looming ever closer with other rises of land speckling the water around it. Zelda let out a gasp upon seeing something moving on top of the mountain. "It's the dragon!" She said excitedly. And she had spoken true. While it was still difficult to make out details of the island, the creature atop it stretched, revealing great feathery wings and an elongated neck. This time, even Link's jaw dropped. Hearing about there being a dragon was one thing, seeing it was another. And he never imagined he would ever see a dragon.

The rest of the voyage to Dragonroost was rather uneventful. Zelda began talking animatedly about all the things she had read about Dragonroost, which, unfortunately, went way over Link's head. Most of the information had to do with sea level and climates and all sorts of things that Link honestly didn't care too much about. But he just smiled and nodded, pretending that he was listening while Zelda happily chatted away. Despite the smile, however, the worry that things would go wrong nagged at the back of his brain.

His mind did get distracted as they continued to near. He'd never quite seen anything like Dragonroost… because while it was a volcanic island, there were several isles surrounding the island proper, some artificially made. There were various platforms in the water, all interconnected through rope bridges. The lower platforms had no rails, while the higher ones all had rope ladders leading to the water. And the uses for all of them were immediately evident. There were plenty of Rito flying to and fro the platforms, just as there were plenty of Zora dolphin leaping onto and off of the lower platforms or side-climbing the rope ladders up onto the higher platforms.

It was clear they were all at work too, hanging and placing decorations upon ropes strewn across the platforms and setting up tents to hold who knew what. Even Link, despite all his worry, found himself looking forward to seeing what was going on here.

The SS Linebeck sailed around the island towards the port, yet Link and Zelda did not leave the ship immediately. Linebeck had put everyone to work in tying the ship to the dock, even the reluctant Pennysworth. Link had thought Itaav might prove troublesome too, but to his surprise, the normally independent and authority defiant Engineer was cooperating quite readily and silently. As they all went about tying the ship to the dock (with Linebeck impatiently teaching Zelda the correct way to tie a knot), Link had noticed that Itaav actually seemed to be avoiding them.

Well. No complaints there, though it wasn't exactly a comforting thought. Something was going on in the Engineer's head, and after last night… well, Link just didn't know what to expect.

What took him away from that train of thought was the sound of giggling. Puzzled, he looked to Zelda, who was not giggling at all but frowning at the knot she was attempting to tie. Then again, he was pretty sure he heard more than one girl… He shifted his gaze to the docking station and saw the source. It was a couple of Zora girls and a Rito girl. And they were all staring right at… him.

He looked around, and saw that Itaav was around Pennysworth.

Which meant those girls were clearly staring and giggling at him.

And he suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious. Was there something on his face? Was his fly down? _Why were they laughing at him_? It was enough to get him clumsy, and the knot he was tying had to be redone several times before he finally got a solid one. And when he was done, they were still there, giggling away. And he still had no idea what was so funny.

"They like you."

He nearly jumped, not having noticed Itaav right behind him. However, the small three word explanation kind of made Link forget his discomfort with his friend. "What?"

Itaav shrugged. "You're not something they see everyday. You're tanned and blond while most guys here are either pale and clammy like me, or have beaks and feathers. You're different. Girls like different."

Blinking absently, Link looked back at the girls, who giggled and huddled closer together when they noticed he had been looking at them. He felt his face redden, a strange feeling of pride and extreme embarrassment coming upon him. He hastily turned back to Itaav then and asked, "So is there anything else that needs to get done?"

The paler boy shrugged again, then walked away.

It was only after he'd left that Link realized that not only had Itaav spoken to him for the first time since the night before… his friend looked like crap.

Well, nothing he could do about it.

Zelda, meanwhile, had been so focused upon tying knots as best as she could, she hadn't paid any attention to anything else. So when the girls that had been staring at Link called out to her, "Hey you!" She actually hadn't heard them the first few times until they practically shouted, "Hey blond girl!"

Startled, she ended up falling on her bottom and looking around embarrassedly in search of the 'blond girl,' before noticing the girls now laughing at her and realizing they were probably addressing her. For Zelda, this was quite the horrible feeling. She certainly didn't find anything quite so funny, and found herself wanting to tell the girls to shut her face. After all, on _the Pride_ no one would have dared laugh at her for something like this… at the same, she was a princess there. Not so much here. Nonetheless, regardless of social rank, it was incredibly rude. So she stood up, brushed herself off and marched up to the girls, sweetly asking, "Yes?"

The girls, seemingly unapologetic for their giggling, seemed to huddle together for a moment, whispering amongst each other before the sole Rito of their group stepped forward and asked, "We were just wondering… That boy there, the blond, handsome one… Well, is he your boyfriend?"

Zelda's first reaction was, "Huh?" She had thought the answer rather obvious and had no idea why they would need to ask such a ridiculous question. "Of course he is. Itaav is too!"

The girls all gaped at her in shock, before realizing that she had been quite serious. And then they laughed again. Zelda felt her face redden as she tensed up. Laughing with someone, she found out, was very different from being laughed _at_. And she didn't at all like being laughed at. Crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently, she bore their laughter with very forced grace. When their horrible giggles ceased, one of the Zora girls said, while still releasing the occasional chuckle, "No, no. Are you _involved_ with him, is what we meant?"

She had to be missing something. If she was friends with Link, she clearly had to be involved with him. But after seemingly having misconstrued the meaning of 'boyfriend,' she had figured there might be a double meaning to this. The way these girls were talking… well, political wordplay seemed easy compared to this. Exasperated and still clueless, she finally said, "I really have no idea what you're asking."

But that seemed to answer their question, whatever it was. And much to Zelda's chagrin, they seemed to like the response. They quickly thanked her before they ran off, giggling happily and looking back at Link.

It was only after the group had been well out of sight did she finally get their meaning. And the princess's face only reddened more as she finally understood the question they had presented her with. The only reason she hadn't gotten it was because behind the Inner Wall, people used different terms regarding the subjects of… of _courting_.

… And truthfully, it hadn't been a subject that she thought of often. After all, she was not the heir to _the Pride_, Zev was, so she hadn't really been pressured to think about it like her brother had. And even though she was of age, Zev never let any boys her age get near her. Link and Itaav had been the first boys around her age that she had had any extended interaction with. So seeing those other girls prancing about casually asking if Link was her gentleman caller… she actually wondered if she was odd for not thinking of it.

So twiddling her fingers, she did begin to think about it. Link, as the girls had described, was handsome. There was no doubt about that. And he was strong, having managed to go up against Blind and hold his own. And very nice, always going out of his way to make sure she was fine… A very good hearted person, she knew, and very down to earth.

She couldn't forget Itaav either. He was also very good looking, though not nearly as nice as Link. But he did seem to care, seeing as he tried to rescue her as well. He was imaginative and practiced with his magic… but also incredibly frightening with hair-trigger temper.

And then Blind had just been absolutely gorgeous – that made her stop her though processes completely and blush yet again. _Oh! He was an absolute brute! How could I even consider _him_? _

Just like that, her interest in boys faded into obscurity once again.

Linebeck had the trio (and a very whiny Pennysworth) help unload his ship. Apparently, whenever he sailed off of Bleak, he took spare boat parts and would sell them in exchange for treasure on whatever island he landed at. He seemed especially excited about it on Dragonroost, even though Link saw no point to this as Zoras swam and Rito flew. He had a feeling that perhaps the man knew something he didn't, but at the same time, Link wasn't incredibly curious.

But the work was done quickly enough, as Link outright refused to help 'set up shop' since none of them owed Linebeck anything. And Itaav had apparently been three steps ahead as he seemed to disappear off the face of the planet at that moment. Even after they'd walked off the harbor and were on the island proper, they saw no sign of him.

"Huh… I wonder where he went?" Zelda asked as they continued on, just taking in their new surroundings.

Link shrugged. "No idea… but we should probably see if we can find a map."

"Can't we borrow Mister Linebeck's?" Zelda asked.

The Scaler grimaced before and shook his head. "Linebeck probably isn't feeling too gracious after the way we left. We weren't able to salvage anything from the _Helmaroc_, and I doubt we'll be staying around Linebeck for too long."

And that finally brought a question to the princess's mind that she was rather afraid to ask. But one way or another, it needed to be asked. "Where are we going to go?"

Link paused. He'd been trying to avoid that question… because even though it had been on his mind, he simply had no idea. Sighing, he looked out to the ocean. It was a beautiful sight, with the sky turning orange and red with the twilight. It just seemed so vast… and perhaps that should have given him some hope that there may have been somewhere they could go. But for some reason, the vastness was scaring him. Because he simply didn't know what was out there, or how close Cole or the Gerudo were… "I don't know."

Zelda followed Link's gaze, suddenly feeling all the reservations he was feeling. The knot in her stomach grew.

* * *

Yay, so I got a chapter out after forever! Anyways, the Zora all seemed to have died out in the Windwaker timeline... BUT NOT IN THIS ONE. Why this is so I will get into in either the next chapter or the one after that. Anyways, like I said, this is a set up chapter. Kinda boring. But hey, Link's getting some female attention, Zelda has realized she's surrounded by good looking guys, and there's a festival to happen! Weeee! Oh yeah, and Ganondorf's got some bad news. Gaspeth. Also, I'm sorry people. I snuck in a tiny bit of my actual preferred pairing for this story... I don't know when it happened, but I totally love BlindZelda right now. XD Alas, it is not canon... what is canon, you ask? I dunno, you'll have to see.

**Arivoctix**, latecomer or not, I still appreciate the fact that you're enjoying (and reviewing to boot!). And yesss, you and me both. I really do look forward to delving further into his character - it shall lead to dark and delicious things ahead. As for including various Zelda characters, this is sort of like my 25th anniversary tribute to Zelda, even though it's probably going to continue on for quite a long time. XD The point is, I'm just trying to avoid adding any OCs. Pennysworth, so far, has been the only one and hopefully it will stay that way. Thanks! 8D

**Purplegc**, eh, I'm not feeling as much love for Groose as everyone else is, honestly. If I see a place he'd be good in, sure, I'll add him. As for now, I don't see him being added to the story. As for Vaati... hehe, you'll see.

**fleets**, augh, minor characters. I develop every single damned character that appears in this story, which kind of sucks. But then again, that's why I'm making the 'spin-off' so to speak. Just that series of short stories I talked about earlier that has no place in the story proper. XD Haha, I never thought of Blind like that. He just developed that way. But I guess now I have to check those guys out! XD

**SubZeroChimera**, NO COOKIE FOR YOU. And no, they're not helping at all. XD

**Midna Hytwilian**, yes it was... but accurate. Blind as a pirate or Blind as a thief... personally, I don't know which I prefer, all I know is that it's Blind... and you know I have such a crush on him. XD Though I kind of think he wants to punch you for that lame pun.

**XiXIXiX**, all the characters are deep. Even the minor ones. D: As for the dark... if it's darker than my usual stuff then it is about to get to a whole new level of dark. Personally, and this is going to sound a bit arrogant, I think this story might be the pinnacle of my fanfiction writing career.


	21. Volunteered

Eep, it's been a while. I am so sorry! I've been caught up with all the recent changes in my life. I have two jobs now, and my class schedule really doesn't allow for much writing in between classes. Plus, I'll admit to having been focused a lot on a few cosplays I've been working on, a Skyward Sword Zelda included. So, I'm sorry for the delay. And _Reversal_ people, don't say anything, I'm working on it. This story just cooperated more.

You ZeLink people are going to loooove this chapter. I apologize for any mistakes in the later half of the chapter. I just wrote that up today and it hasn't really been checked due to the fact that I just wanted to get this up today before work. D:

* * *

The rest of the day had been short, due to the fact that they had arrived at Dragonroost towards the late afternoon. There wasn't much in way of conversation, as the question of where to head after Dragonroost seemed to have killed an otherwise excited mood. Link had tried to look for a map or a sea chart, but with the festival beginning the next day, the vendors were all helping with preparations rather than vending. It appeared a chart of any sort would have to wait until the next day, and with anxiety for the festival effectively dead, Link and Zelda headed to the sole inn on Dragonroost. It wasn't large and it was mostly empty, with the exception of the Rito girl at the counter and two other Hylians in the lobby who didn't seem up for any sort of socialization.

There were plenty of rooms available, however, so after having a small meal that the Rito girl happily offered for free ("In the spirit of the festival," she had said, even though Zelda noted the girl seemed to be staring absently at her companion nearly the whole time), they each headed to separate rooms on the second level of the inn.

Link threw himself on the bed and stared up at the ceiling, feebly attempting to clear his mind. He was trying not to think of how stuck they were without the _Helmaroc_. He supposed with the amount of rupees they had, they could always charter a boat… but that didn't settle well with him. As long as there were people like Pennysworth out there, who would sell a person out in a second unless their life depended on it, he wanted to keep their escapade as contained and uncrowded as possible. And three, he'd heard, was already a crowd.

He sighed, turning on his side and trying his best to sleep… Yet now that he found himself in a relatively peaceful situation, he just felt even more uncomfortable. He had this particular room all to himself and… well, by all means it was not huge… but after nearly three years of living in his cramped quarters on _the Pride_, this room was practically palatial. It was something he'd never thought of in the room at the Stock Pot Inn, probably because he'd been there with two other people and it was kind of reminiscent of the orphan barracks. But there was no such feeling here. This room was big and empty and he didn't like it.

That added discomfort now in his head, it was very difficult to sleep.

But no amount of alertness prepared him for the knock at his door. He ended up jumping right off of the bed and falling uncomfortably upon the floor, wondering who on earth it could be at this late hour. It crossed his mind that it might've been Itaav coming to crash with him, but if the Engineer had found out where he and Zelda had been staying, he wouldn't bother to knock. He'd just barge right in. Link was also assuming that Zelda was sleeping soundly in the next room over, so it couldn't have been her…

Feeling a bit paranoid, he quietly took the stolen scimitar in hand and crept to the door. Whoever was there knocked again, and Link frowned. If it was someone that may have been after them, they wouldn't be so courteous as to keep knocking… Nonetheless, he kept the scimitar in one hand as he carefully opened the door a crack…

Link had been wrong about Zelda being asleep, it seemed. He quickly put the scimitar down and then opened the door completely. "Z-Zelda? Is something wrong?" He asked, suddenly feeling social skills flying out the window. The girl was way too good at doing that to him.

Twiddling her fingers embarrassedly, Zelda simply responded, "I… I can't sleep. It's… it's strange here…" There was something gratifying in knowing he wasn't the only one feeling that way… that didn't stop him from blushing. And he all but went red in the face when she said, "Could I sleep here instead?"

His mind shut down completely. The words stung together in that sentence seemed to all sound like warbled nonsense because he just could not understand them together. His subconscious took over when his head nodded, though he was sure his face looked just as blank as he felt.

The girl smiled brightly, gave him a quick hug, and then scurried right into his room and hopped into the bed. And that was what made his brain start up again, because sheer panic seemed to take over. What had he just _said_ (though technically he hadn't said anything at all, but that was beside the point)? But it wasn't like he could just say no, either.

"S-so, I guess I'll sleep over here," he said, wandering over to a corner after he closed the door.

"Oh, don't be silly, Link! There's room for both of us!" Zelda said, patting the part of the bed next to her.

Link tripped over himself, blurting out, "_What_?"

The princess, however, didn't have any idea why the boy should be so shocked. Blinking in puzzlement she simply said, "Well, the bed's big enough for two. I don't see why you should have to sleep on the floor. I felt absolutely horrible at Bleak when you did; it doesn't seem right now, especially when there's enough room."

"B-but guys and… guys and girls don't share beds!" Link blurted out.

Zelda cocked her head to side, her expression one of amused confusion. "That's silly. My mother and father would share a bed all the time. Oh, and my brother and I would too when we were smaller!"

"That's _different_!" He said, flustered.

But the girl would have none of that. She slid off the bed, marched right over, and dragged him back to the bed with her. "_I_ don't see what the problem is," she said matter-of-factly. "You're not a stranger and you're a nice person. I trust you."

And that just made him go even redder in the face – mostly because he wasn't even sure if he could trust himself. Nonetheless, he found himself on the bed with Zelda happily sitting upright next to him. He had to remind himself to breathe several times. Turning back on his side, facing away from Zelda, he mumbled a shaky, "Good night."

To his surprise, Zelda lay down and… and _snuggled_ into his back. Any chance of his relaxing now had gone out the window. However, he was taken completely off guard when Zelda said, "My brother and I… we used to sleep like this." As if to make matters worse, he felt her shaking slightly.

He looked over his shoulder, trying to look at her. But all he could see was her slightly shivering blond head. "… Are you… are you all right?" He asked.

At first, he wondered if she'd already fallen asleep or if she just hadn't heard him. But she had, and after a few moments she said, "I miss him. And my father too." It was slightly muffled, since her head was still buried in his back, but he understood it all too clearly.

He turned over, to which Zelda raised her head slightly to look up at him with tear filled eyes. She quickly put her hands up to her face and said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be like this, I know but…"

"You've got a family you miss." He finished for her. He knew how it felt too. He had just been dealing with it a lot longer.

Her hands still covering her face. "Zev can be… he can be a dumb fool sometimes, but he is still my brother. I miss him pestering me about keeping to my studies and being a proper lady…" Her hands slid from her face a little as she let out a small chuckle. "I never thought I would say that."

Link gave her a sad smile and said, "You'll see him again. And your father too. I'm sure of it."

She rubbed her eyes with balled up hands and nodded, again managing a bright smile. "Yes. Yes, you're right. I shouldn't cry. I'll see them again some day." As cheery as she looked, her voice still shook. It was silent again, and he was slowly remembering that he was in a bed with the princess. But before his discomfort could come back, she asked Link curiously, "Do you have any siblings?"

His small smile faltered a bit. "No." Even if his parents had still been around, behind the Inner Wall, it was discouraged for couples to have more than one child.

"What about your parents?"

And that was the question he really hoped she wouldn't ask. Mostly because the answer would probably make her feel worse than she already felt now. Thinking on it, there was no instance in the past where he'd ever had a reason to tell her both he and Itaav were orphans… He just wished it hadn't been asked now. "They're… they're not around anymore." He said gently.

The slightly cheered up smile she had from before dropped. "Oh… I'm sorry…"

"You didn't know. Don't worry about it." He said reassuringly.

"Is Itaav also…?"

"Yeah. But don't bring it up with him. I don't have a problem talking about it – he does."

Zelda pursed her lips, still feeling a bit bad for the insensitivity of the question. Thinking on it, she perhaps should have gotten the idea that their parents weren't around, seeing as they didn't seem quite as troubled to leave _the Pride_ as she had. Yet that did lead her to an interesting thought. "So… is Itaav like a brother then?" She asked Link.

The Scaler certainly hadn't expected that. "Huh?" Truthfully, he'd never thought of it like that. But he supposed in a way they were like brothers. "I guess…"

"When we were on Bleak, before the Dancing Cat, he told me you saved his life." She said.

"He did?" Link asked blankly, before adding, "I mean, I suppose it's true. I'm just surprised he told you. He doesn't like to admit it."

"What happened?" Zelda asked a bit eagerly.

At first he wondered if he should tell her. Chances were if Itaav found out he'd told the story, there'd be a fair share of grumpiness from him. The story was always a blow on his pride, after all. At the same time, the guy was already being a distant douche and getting your pride dented just a little bit didn't really hurt anyone. So he told the story.

"Honestly, we were just being kids and doing stupid things. It was Itaav's idea. Some Scaling Maintenance was getting done nearby and he wanted to try scaling at night."

"What? But that's so dangerous!" Zelda gasped.

Link smirked, "That's what I told him. But he was older, so he said he knew better and that I'd better do what he said or he'd shove me. So I went along with it."

"But _why_?" The girl gaped.

He chuckled, saying, "Let me finish the story." Zelda blushed a bit and nodded, so he continued, "Anyways, we snuck over to where they put up the temporary scaling post; back then they kept the scaling gear laying around, so I got geared up first and… well, I went first. Itaav was still by the edge, watching, when some really powerful gust of wind just came out of nowhere. It sent me flailing around a bit, but I'd caught on to the side of the hull and hung on. Itaav wasn't so lucky, though. He fell down and just barely managed to hang onto a really big root the Scalers hadn't got to yet. There was lots of screaming from both of us, we were freaking out so much. Luckily, a Below Deck Engineer had been working the nightshift and heard us screaming. He alerted the nearest Scalers via Fairy Crystal and they came running. They told us to stay put, but Itaav was losing his grip on the root. I ended up climbing down and grabbing onto him at the last second. A professional Scaler ended up taking us back up, but that's pretty much all there is to the story."

Zelda's mouth was in an 'o,' she was so amazed. "Wow… that was… that was very heroic!" She said. It reminded her of the stories that Father would tell her about the Heroes of Old.

Link blushed. "I was just doing what anyone would've done. Truthfully, I think I owe Itaav for the whole thing. If we hadn't had done something stupid like that, I may have ended up working in the kitchens."

But she kept smiling, and then snuggled into him yet again. And that was the re-reminder of how uncomfortable the situation was… yet his mind was telling him, _Stop being so damned nervous and just enjoy it, jackass._ So, with a flushed face, he put his hand lightly upon Zelda's shoulder and simply enjoyed the feeling of the girl right beside him. "You and Itaav really are like brothers, you know." She said, quietly enough for Link to tell she was falling asleep. As if to emphasize that, she let out a big yawn and then said, "We should find him tomorrow…"

And he supposed, distant as his friend had been that day and concerning as his behavior was the night before… they may as well. A festival was going to start after all.

* * *

Apparently, finding Itaav the next day was out of the question. The two had descended the stairs from their room to see that Quill, the Rito they had met on Linebeck's boat, was in the lobby. With him were two girls, one another Rito, the other a Zora girl. The girls, however, were different from the other Rito and Zora they'd seen. For one, the Zora girl was wearing clothes – something which most Zora seemed to lack. Though as most clothes went, they weren't extravagant. It was a simple purple dress which was accented by a red surcoat with a golden sigil in the middle. The Rito girl, on the other hand, seemed dressed like most of the other Rito, except she had surcoat matching the Zora's. Another thing the two had in common were matching harps strapped to their backs.

"Ah, good to see you two are awake. I'm afraid I never got your names yesterday." Quill said as soon he caught sight of them.

"Link," he said simply, wondering what on earth Quill wanted with them.

As always, however, the princess of _the Pride_ was bubblier in her introductions. Still remembering that she was supposed to keep her real name a secret, she stepped up and curtsied to Quill and the two girls, saying, "My name is Marin! It's very nice to meet you! I've dreamed of coming to see Dragonroost Island since I was a little girl, and it's so nice to be here! Especially during a festival! It's supposed to start tomorrow, right?"

Quill, who seemed to come off as incredibly stoic, actually smiled and nodded. "That's correct, Miss Marin. I'm glad to see the festival has you so excited. It truly isn't a thing to miss. However, I'm afraid I didn't come to check on you two."

"Then what do you want?" Link asked.

The Rito man gestured to the two girls behind him and said, "These young ladies are the Attendants of the Guardians; they wished to meet you concerning an event for the festival. I couldn't tell you much, though, I'm afraid I need to leave. I only came to show them to you, and the Chieftain requires my assistance. I apologize." And with that, he gave them a short bow and exited the inn, leaving Link and Zelda with the two natives.

The Rito girl gave them both a broad smile and stepped forward, mimicking Quill's short bow and saying, "My name is Medli; I'm the attendant to the Great Valoo! It's a pleasure to meet you both!" She said in a cheerful manner that reminded Link of Zelda.

The Zora girl, on the other hand, seemed a bit shy. Her gaze seemed to be focused more on Link, but she followed Medli's example and stepped forward before giving a short bow. "I am Laruto… The Great Jabun's attendant. It's nice to meet you…"

"Oh my goodness, this is exciting!" Zelda said, dancing on her tip-toes. "It's very nice to meet you both too!"

"Yeah, nice to meet you two…" Link said with much less enthusiasm. He wasn't quite sure what two outsiders to an island would have to do with the festivities.

Medli gave them a wide smile and then looked to her companion, whose eyes seemed to be focused between her finned feet. The winged girl gave Laruto a small nudge on the shoulder and the Zora quickly stood to attention. Her eyes locked right on Link, and her face suddenly became a shade of pink that looked incredibly odd upon her near bluish complexion. "Um, it's a tradition here, during the Festival that-that outsiders should be a p-part of our main festivities!" The Zora girl stuttered.

"More specifically," Medli continued for her flustered counterpart, "Performances preceding the Founding Play."

"Founding Play?" Both Link and Zelda asked at the same time.

"Yes, the Founding Play." Medli repeated. "It's a shared legend between the Rito and Zora of the founding of Dragonroost Island and the hardships that our shared ancestors had to go through in order to reach it."

Link frowned, his mind unable to wrap around one segment of Medli's statement. "Wait… shared ancestors? But…" he looked from Medli to Laruto in confusion.

Medli chuckled and was about to explain, but Laruto seemed to have found some confidence and spoke first, "The Rito have their origins from the Zora. When the Great Flood came, the Zora were well equipped to live in the Great Sea that the Flood became… that was what was thought at first. Very soon after the Great Sea was formed, a sickness plagued half the Zora population. It seemed that some Zora were incapable of handling the sudden change in the water's salinity. In desperation, we sought the nearest landmass we could in hopes of finding a freshwater source for our dying brethren. That was when the Great Jabun lead us to an island, finding a freshwater spring that could ideally sustain life… bit it seemed it was too late. Many of the sick Zora were too far along, seemingly beyond help… And then a great dragon descended from the sky and took pity upon our dying people. He bestowed upon them scales from his own body, and those scales transformed their slick skin into feathery down, and took their fins away in favor of wings…" The girl's quiet voice stopped there.

Medli continued, "The Founding Play is not only the story of how we founded Dragonroost, but of how my people, the Rito, were born. It's a play of great significance to us…" Her cheerful demeanor had turned solemn for a moment, and then picked up again quickly to say, "But I'm sorry, we seem to have gotten just a tiny bit off topic! Because while the Founding Play is important, the performances before it are just as important! And that's why we were hoping to have your help!"

Before Link could even respond, Zelda interjected happily, "Of course we will, it would be an honor!"

"That's great!" Medli exclaimed. "What we'd like your help for is in a retelling of another one of our greatest legends! To be honest, it's a legend most people already know, but we tell the part specifically pertaining the Zora of that particular legend – that being the legend of the Hero of Time. And Link, you're a dead-ringer of the Hero of Time!"

Link stepped back in alarm, "M-me? B-but-"

"Well, the Hero was Hylian. It would feel more authentic to have a Hylian have a Hylian play the Hero – especially since you do seem similar to how the texts describe him." The Ruto girl stated matter of factly. Then she looked to the Zora next to her and said brightly, "And you'll be working very closely with Laruto here. She's cast as Princess Ruto this year, and she knows the play like the back of her hand – you'll never get lost, I promise. So, what do you say?"

Laruto's pale skin went that strange shade of pink again and she began to stare very hard at the space between her feet. But Link, for some reason, found the whole thing was really repelling him… if only because the name Ruto seemed to unsettle him. He was nearly about to decline when he caught sight of Zelda's face, which seemed to be shining so brightly with enthusiasm. And it was so incredibly enchanting to see her like that he found he couldn't bring himself to decline. If he did, the princess would lose that excited smile and maybe even be a bit disappointed in Link.

Finally, he let out a not so convincing, "Sure."

Medli let out a sigh of relief and said, "For a second there I thought you were going to say no… Erm, anyways, thank you! This'll be the best year yet with a Hylian Hero of Time!"

"And what can I do?" Zelda asked eagerly.

Medli grinned and said, "The legend passed down to us does involve two Hylians. If possible, I'd like you to play the enigmatic Sheik – that is, if playing a boy doesn't bother you."

For a moment, the princess's face fell… but just as quickly as it did, it perked up again. In fact, Link would've thought the whole thing seemed amusing to the girl the way she was smiling. It looked as if she was trying to hold back a laugh. She nodded, and said, "I would love to! Sheik was always one of my favorite characters from the Legend of the Hero of Time!"

"Perfect!" The Rito girl clapped her hands together happily. And then the girl froze for a moment, and asked, "Do you know anything about lyres?"

"Lyres? Why does she need to know about lyres?" Link asked.

Soft spoken Laruto said, "Sheik was said to hold a lyre… I think Medli is just wondering if she can strive for accuracy…"

The feathered let out a sheepish smile and nodded at her Zora counterpart's words. Zelda however smiled broadly and said, "I used to play when I was smaller. I might be a little out of practice but I'm sure Imightbe able to pick it back up again!"

With a gape, Medli said, "Really?" She then took the harp off of her back and handed it the princess of the _Pride_, enthusiastically asking, "Can we hear something?"

The princess blinked in surprise, apparently not having thought she'd be offered a lyre right then and there. But she shyly took the golden instrument in hand and prepped it on her arm. She thought for a moment, looked at the lyre in her hands and tested a few of the strings out. Upon getting used to the placements and sounds of each string, she then began to play.

Immediately from the first note Link felt an incredible familiarity, not with the song, but with the girl playing it. He almost felt as if perhaps he'd known Zelda a very long time ago, like when they were children… but at the same time knew that it was impossible. It felt as if he might have known her from another life, and for a moment, he wondered if he did. At that very point in time, he felt as if he really had known her forever. To say he was entranced with the girl at that moment might have been an understatement.

But as the notes grew in complexity, Zelda's lack of practice began to show and she eventually stopped, handing the lyre back to Medli apologetically. But the Rito seemed to have paid no attention to the faults in the girl's performance, saying, "That was beautiful! I've never heard that song before. What's it called?"

Zelda twiddled her thumbs bashfully and said, "Oh, it's an old song that goes back to the beginnings of my family… It's called _the Ballad of the Goddess_. It has lyrics too, but I've completely forgotten them…"

"Well, you'll make a perfect Sheik!" Medli said excitedly. "I'll have to teach you the song you'll need to play… Oh but don't worry, these performances take place on the final day of the festival, so there's plenty of time to practice," She then looked over to Laruto and Link, saying to the Zora, "Laruto, you take Link over the stages, see if you can find someone to work on his costume. I'm going to start teaching Marin the melody, all right?"

Again did the Zora girl's face turn that strange shade of pink-purple before she nodded and turned to Link. She didn't make any sort of eye contact with him, only once daring to let her eyes flutter up to see his face before quickly focusing back between her flippered feet. "Um, just… follow me, please…"

Link didn't bother nodding, seeing how the girl wasn't even looking his way. But he looked back to Zelda, holding her gaze for just a moment. But that moment felt like forever to him as he tried to figure out why her song invoked that sense of familiarity with her he wasn't sure he should have. Finally, he managed to ask, "You'll be all right?"

She nodded cheerily before running up and giving him a hug, whispering in his ear, "If anything bad happens, I'll find you right away." And then she skipped back to Medli, giving Link a a wave before they disappeared to a different part of Dragonroost. Link frowned with worry. It was probably the wrong time to remember why they had been driven to the island in the first place… or maybe it was the right time. He didn't know. But he saw Laruto was waiting patiently for him, so he turned to her and then followed her to their part of Dragonroost.

Medli was apparently just excited to teach Zelda the piece of music as the girl was to learn it. She was taking Zelda to the music hall, where they would hopefully find a lyre for her to practice with. Walking up and down the many catwalks strewn about Dragonroost, however, Zelda remembered that she and Link weren't the only ones who came to the island. For a moment, she felt incredibly guilty for suddenly forgetting her plan to find Itaav. She quickly picked up her own pace to reach Medli's side and asked, "I'm sorry, but have you seen my other friend?"

Medli paused for a moment and then said, "Oh yes, that's right. I heard there were three new Hylians on the island… but I haven't seen him." The princess frowned, dismayed, and upon seeing that Medli quickly added, "But I'm sure he's around and about. Dragonroost is pretty big and there are lots of nooks and crannies to explore! I'm sure he's just been looking around outside of the public eye, is all!"

Zelda perked up just a bit and gave a half-hearted smile. She sure hoped so, because some part of her worried if Itaav was still in that terrifying mindset from the other night…

* * *

Again, a very ZeLink centric chapter. I really don't have much to say about this chapter, other than the fact that Laruto totally has it hard for Link. Don;t worry guys, she's not going to be nearly as crazy as her namesake. Originally, I was planniong on having Ruto instead of Laruto... then I remembered I can't do that because Ruto was a main character in Ocarina of Time and it would feel kind of weird for the same character pop up here. I always kind of liked Laruto - a lot more than Fado as a sage, that's for sure. She seemed to calm and collected, less reckless than her namesake. I actually liked the idea of working with her better than Ruto.

**Tinselplease**, ohoho, thank you~ I'm really enjoying their characterization too, and don't worry...love triangle action will be starting very soon. Kekeke... As for Itaav, I suppose you'll find out what his "awakening" will mean as we proceed.

**fleets**, oh my God. Did my face just get red. I honestly didn't know you read that one... Erm, anyways, one of my friends said I tend to write very conversationally and that's why it's so enjoyable. I guess it's sort of like the oral tradition on paper. XD But don't worry, envious as you can get of me, I get envious of you too my dear fleetage. XD And yes, that will happen sometime... not sometime soonish, though.

**purplegc**, it ended there because I said so. XD And oh my, you're right. What catastrophe will happen here? GASPETH. I'm not saying. Eh, I never really disliked Groose, but I don't like him that much either. He is funny, though, I'll give him that. XD

**Sage of Video Games**, yay! Glad you're liking it! 8D As for ItaavxZelda... soon, either next chapter or the chapter after that, there will be. Hopefully, it'll make up for the massive ZeLink that went on this chapter.

**Mirria1**, iknowrite? I got some idea of it here, but as you can see, I didn't kill all of them off. IT DON'T MAKE SENSE, MANG.

**SubZeroChimera**, not really. WHAT WILL HAPPEN? You'll find out. Thanks, sorry for the wait. D:


	22. Insomniac

Sooooo... sorry for the long time in between updates. I've actually had a good chunk of this done already, but a convention was coming up and I had last minute cosplays to attend to. More specifically, an Anju from Majora's Mask. I also cosplayed Zelda from Skyward Sword - which won me best novice in a costume contest! So I think all that work was well worth the effort.

Anyways, now that all that is taken care of for the moment, I had time to finish up this chapter. Still not entirely satisfied with it, but I'm so tired of working on it, it'll have to do.

* * *

All of the rest of the day, Zelda and Link had been kept busy. Zelda had been practicing nonstop with the lyre that Medli had leant her, and while she had the basic tune she was supposed to learn, she often would try to learn any others Medli would show her. Truthfully, the princess found the instrument a great way to take her mind off any worries. Whenever she strummed or plucked one of the strings, it seemed as if she was in another world far away from any harm. Because while she had been cheerful in the festive atmosphere, she was secretly fraught with all sorts of negativity. Whenever she played the small harp, however, it seemed like nothing else in the world mattered save for the tune she was playing.

Link was less enthusiastic about his role. Since he was a "major" character in this little play, he'd immediately been taken in for a fitting. He had to admit that he wasn't a huge fan of the shade of green chosen for him, but the designer behind it was insistent upon it. Whatever the case, after that was done with, Laruto went over the script with him. The Zora girl seemed to lose most of her skittishness during the script reading, which he had to admit made things a lot less awkward. Of course, when everything was done for the day and he had his own script, Laruto resumed being reserved and quietly asked that he return the next day around the same time they'd met.

It was late afternoon when he'd found Zelda and Medli near one of the beaches. However, he didn't make his presence obvious. The two girls had been practicing a duet, apparently and… well, on _the Pride_, music was a huge luxury. Yes, there was the occasional party and such, but that was really the only time. The only times he'd really heard music outside of that setting was when Itaav got that infuriating ukulele (which wasn't to say Itaav couldn't play it; he could play it, but Link had dared him that he wouldn't be able to). That and Link had to admit that he rather liked admiring Zelda. She was beautiful, nice, cheerful and optimistic, strong in a way he'd never thought of a princess…

"Huh, that Hylian girl can play."

He nearly jumped out of his boots. He hadn't even noticed the Rito standing by him. Link frowned, however, and said, "That makes it sound like a Hylian girl can't play any music at all."

The Rito, who Link was guessing was around two or three years younger than him, just gave him a half interested look before shrugging, "Well I don't know – never really met a Hylian girl before; then again, I don't know that many Hylians to begin with." He said simply. Then dismissing Link completely, he stepped forward towards Medli, "Hey there, Medli!"

The Rito girl looked up from her lyre to see who was speaking, and when she did she gave the speaker the flattest look possible. "Don't 'hey there!' me!" Standing up with feathers ruffling, the girl went on to say, "Do you have any idea what _day_ this is?"

"… Saturday?" The male Rito said cluelessly.

"It's the eve of the festival, Komali! You're supposed to be practicing for the Founding Play! It's your first time in the lead!"

"It'll be fine, Medli," Komali said carelessly.

Zelda looked to Link with raised eyebrows, who simply shrugged. While the Rito boy's name did raise a flag, he wasn't quite sure why… and was far more impressed by the volume in which Medli's feathers were fluffing.

"It's not going to be fine! You're the prince, Komali – you just _can't_ mess up!"

"I'm not, I promise!"

And this banter seemed to continue along the same lines. For how long, neither of the Hylians were sure. Feeling as if they were intruding on something, Zelda had joined Link and they shuffled away quietly. Both being quite famished from the day's proceedings, the two were wandering the main road to the festival, as stalls were already readying themselves for the next day and preparing some food ahead of time. And to their great surprise, they found someone rather unexpected among the preparing vendors.

"Pennysworth?" Link gaped.

The scrub, wearing a ridiculous hat that looked like it had shish-ka-bobbed bean buns on it, seemed mortified upon seeing Link and Zelda. "Oh… it's you two…" He grumbled, all of a sudden seeming very preoccupied with a wheel on his ramshackle cart (and now that Link really looked at it, he recognized it from Linebeck's cargo hold).

"Mr. Pennysworth, you're selling festival food?" The ever chipper Zelda asked.

"Yeah, yeah. Gotta make ends meet somehow seeing as how I can probably never go back to Bleak." The way the scrub's golden eyes glared at Link added, _And it's _your_ fault._ "I admit it's been a while. Haven't had to make dango for ages."

"Dango?" Zelda asked.

And that's when Link managed to put together that Pennysworth was, in fact, wearing a hat made to looked like shish-ka-bobbed bean buns. Because he was selling exactly that.

"I know that stuff… It's a Mainland specialty," Link said, vaguely remembering trying some in his youth just weeks before the hurricane that killed his parents came.

"Yeah, well here," the scrub picked up two different dango sticks and thrust them towards the two. Zelda took it with glee but Link forked an eyebrow at it. The Deku scrub's leaves ruffled indignantly and he muttered, "Take it as a 'sorry for wanting to sell you out' type of thing. Next ones ain't free!" But when Zelda said delightedly, "Oh this is delicious!" the scrub seemed to soften somewhat with pride and said, "_She_ can have one more for free."

"Link, we should find Itaav! Something like this can cheer anyone sour mood, I'm sure!" The princess said as she took another bite of one of the bean buns.

He simply nodded in response, looking at the dango in his hand skeptically. The last time he'd had was so long ago, he couldn't remember if he liked it or not. So he looked to the Deku Scrub and asked, "Have you seen him?"

"Who? That creepy friend of yours? Saw him earlier and he was being creepy. So I kept my snout out of it." Pennysworth said carelessly.

The blond boy frowned. "Creepy? Creepy how?"

The scrub rolled his yellow eyes and responded as if he were talking to a small child, "As in creepy. I mean, aside from mumbling to himself and ignoring everything around him, he looks like a corpse. You got a weird choice in friend ya know. And if you're not going eat that, give it back."

Suddenly feeling very possessive of the dango he hadn't eaten, Link pulled it closer to himself and then took a small bite out of it. He was surprised that he couldn't remember something that tasted so good and scarfed it down pretty quickly. He and Zelda then said their thanks and goodbyes to Pennysworth, but the girl said with concern, "Do you think Itaav is sick, Link?"

"I don't know. I mean, I've seen Itaav when he's sick. But when he's sick, he's a huge baby… not delusional, by the sounds of it." Something was wrong, that was all Link knew. "We should probably try asking around again-"

But Zelda was distracted by a Zora girl approaching them and interrupted Link's train of thought when she said, "Is that Laruto?"

Looking over his shoulder, Link was able to confirm that it was Laruto. The Zora girl paused for a moment when he looked at her, then cast her eyes to the ground and kept walking towards them. She stopped when she was near them, saying quietly, "Link… the director saw us rehearsing lines earlier and… and he thinks you need more practice."

"Huh?" Was all he could manage. More practice? He could understand that, as he was by no means an actor. He just wasn't sure where the Zora girl was going with this. "Um, all right. So… what does that mean?"

The girl's face seemed to flush that pink purple that looked strange on her natural hue and she stuttered, "I-it means more practice… Rather than the same time tomorrow, we'd need to meet earlier and practice. Then we'll have to rehearse in front of the director so he can see your progress… And… and the costumer wants to see you again… She's having trouble with the sleeves… since you don't have fins…"

"Now?" Link asked. "It's not really a good time. We need to find our friend, we haven't seen him for a while."

The Zora girl fidgeted, mumbling something about the costume designer being upset. Link felt guilty, but at the moment he found looking for an unwell Itaav just a bit more important than some ridiculous play. But Zelda pursed her lips; having made a friend out of Medli, she was able to better understand the importance of the Founding Play to the Rito and Zora of Dragonroost. Since Link was playing the Hero of Legend in the Precursor Play, he couldn't exactly shirk his duties.

"Link, you should go with her. I'll find Itaav." The blond girl announced.

The Scaler looked at Zelda in a mixture of surprise and a tiny bit of frustration. "But Z- Marin-"

"You have a duty to the Precursor Play, Link. It's important that you do your best." Zelda said in a manner that represented the princess that she really was. But the serious manner wore off a bit when she added with a reassuring smile, "I'll find Itaav, don't worry."

But despite that, he was still bothered. He didn't want to leave Zelda alone – especially if she did end up finding Itaav. He couldn't exactly say why, but the thought had Link on edge. What if Itaav was still out of it like he was on Bleak, and that's why he was acting strange? He couldn't just leave Zelda alone with _that_! But Zelda still had that look on her face, even with that smile, that said she would have no arguments. Defeated and quite a bit upset about it, he nodded and grumbled, "Fine… But… be careful, Marin."

"I'll be all right, Link. I'm just going to find Itaav." She said cheerfully.

Link was still far from happy, but nodded and then followed Laruto to find the costume designer. Zelda watched for a moment, before turning on her heel and looking forward. Where on earth would she begin? Itaav could be anywhere on Dragonroost. With a sigh, she looked up to the mountain's peak where the great dragon Valoo resided. No doubt the dragon saw everything from up there, he could probably find Itaav. Yet she doubted she could go up and ask. From what she understood, Medli was the only one who could speak with the dragon, and getting up there alone would be pretty much impossible without wings.

She supposed she could always ask Pennysworth which way he saw Itaav go when he saw him earlier that day, but the time she returned to the stall the scrub had left for the evening. She supposed she could always go to Linebeck's ship and see if he was there, but she had a feeling she'd just be walking around in circles. So she took to asking whoever she came across if they saw anyone that fit Itaav's description. Most of them had seen him earlier in the day when Pennysworth had seen him, but didn't seem to have any idea where he was at the moment.

Night had fallen, and briefly she wondered if Link was still getting his costume fitted. Maybe she could find him and they could try looking together like they had planned earlier?

"Hey Miss Hylian Girl." Zelda hadn't even noticed Komali fly down beside her.

"Oh, hello there… Komali, right?"

The Rito boy nodded. "Yup. What are you doing out here? I'd thought you'd be with your Hylian friends."

"Oh, Link is getting his costume fitted – Laruto said she was having trouble because he doesn't have fins." She told him.

Komali nodded, "Yeah, Lulu gets kind of picky like that. She likes everything perfect – which I suppose is just fine seeing as I'm wearing a hand me down costume; no sewing involved there. I imagine you're getting a hand me down too… But what about that other friend of yours?"

"Well, I'm looking for him," Zelda said suddenly feeling very dismayed. "We haven't seen him since we got here so we're pretty worried…"

"Really? I saw him." Said the boy plainly.

The princess brightened considerably. "Really? Where?"

The Rito prince blinked for a moment, surprised that Zelda had gone from gloomy to bright in what seemed like an extremely quick amount of time. Whatever the case, he saw this as a great opportunity to get some help on a particular subject he was finding extremely confusing. "I'll tell you, but first… well, I need your help on something Miss Hylian Girl-"

"Marin." Zelda said, as she found 'Miss Hylian Girl' wasn't a nickname she wanted to stick.

"All right, Marin. I need you to help me out with something. Tomorrow, after the Zora Race, meet me here. All right?" Komali said. Zelda nodded and promised, to which the Rito prince grinned and said, "Great! Your friend's by the tidal pools on the other side of the island. I saw him when I flew over here not too long ago so he should still be there."

"Thank you, Komali!" Zelda said happily, giving him a quick hug before heading off to where Komali said Itaav was.

The feathered boy, a bit taken aback by the sudden embrace, absently watched the girl head off before calling out, "Remember, here after the Zora Race!"

But Zelda paid no mind to the boy's call. She remembered, because she always kept her promises, but right now she was simply concerned with finding Itaav. When she managed to get to the other side of the island, however, she was a bit confused. She wasn't quite sure where the tidal pools were exactly, and realized she probably should have asked for a bit more clarification from Komali. And looking around, this side of the island didn't seem too different from the one she came from. There were still decks and platforms everywhere, decorated with all sorts of festival preparation, and with plenty of stalls covered in tarps to make them just as indistinguishable from the next. Tidal pools, she was guessing, wouldn't be in the festival area… Tidal pools would obviously be along a beach. But which beach? Everywhere she looked she saw hints of sand but no Itaav.

And then she saw the rocky wall that the festival track seemed to end at. There was a thin bit of sand going around the wall…

Zelda hopped off the deck that was making up the festival track and into the sand. She followed it around the wall, keeping to the little trail that seemed to be circling the wall. But the trail of sand soon widened, and she realized that the main isle of Dragonroost was bigger than she had initially thought. Eventually, the rock wall made a sharp turn and she saw a wide space of sand and rocks. The rocky areas, she was guessing were the tidal pools.

She had taken only two steps into the area when she realized all the sand in the area seemed disturbed. Looking down… she saw they were pictures and… sloppy writing. She tried to make them out, but everything seemed jumbled. It didn't make any sort of sense at all, but the drawings, she noted, almost looked like bits and pieces of the late _Helmaroc_. She raised her head, looking around worriedly, seeing that nearly all the sand in the area had sketches and sloppy writing. It didn't take very long to find Itaav; he was currently crouching down, hunched over an area of sand. Zelda rushed over and knelt down beside him; if he noticed her, he did not show it. He was mumbling incoherently to himself while doodling something in the sand with a piece of driftwood.

"Itaav?" She asked. But again, he didn't seem to take any notice of her. He simply kept mumbling something about "counterbalancing the iron rods" and "trimming weight off the bow" and other things she wasn't quite sure of. Finally, she put a hand on his shoulder and said his name again. The touch was what seemed to bring him back to reality. He looked at her hand on his shoulder, as if it was some foreign entity he couldn't understand. He followed the hand up the arm and then found her face, again looking at her as if she was something he couldn't quite compute. "Are you… Are you feeling well, Itaav?"

For a few moments, Zelda wasn't at all sure he understood a word she had said. But just when she was about to repeat her question, he broke out into a very unstable smile and said, "I found a better way to counterbalance the wings with the rest of the ship."

"Itaav, that's… that's not what I asked…" She said quietly. Currently, she was very disturbed by what she was seeing. Pennysworth hadn't lied when she said Itaav looked like a corpse. The shadows under his eyes were… "Itaav, when was the last time you slept?"

Not knowing at all how it was possible, Itaav seemed to look even sicklier than before at the word 'slept.' In fact, he looked back down to his sloppy sketches and said, "Can't sleep; I have to rebuild the _Helmaroc_." But his words sounded force and frightened.

"Itaav, did you… you didn't sleep the night we came here, did you. You haven't slept in two days! No, three! You were out that whole night when we got to Bleak, and when you came back you were planning and… Itaav, you need to rest!" She said in alarm.

He froze, and then looked at Zelda in wide eyed fear. In a cracking, squeaky voice, he said, "If I sleep, the darkness gets me."

"Darkness… Itaav what darkness? The night?" She asked. Being afraid of the dark was one thing, but if this was how Itaav was reacting to it…

"No! No, not the night, not the night," he shook his head violently. "Not the night; no, worse. It's the dark that doesn't go away; it doesn't leave; doesn't end; just keeps going; closing in, no escape…" By this time, Itaav was pulling on his own hair. Zelda wasn't at all sure what to say or do. It was obvious he was having night terrors but… was he thinking of that time they were in the bowels of _the Pride_? She didn't think so… but to say the two weren't related might be taking to too far. But even if they were related, it didn't matter. Not right now.

Itaav then shot up and began pacing frantically, leaving a stunned Zelda just watching him. "That's why I have to build the _Helmaroc_ again. Building keeps me from sleeping; if I don't sleep I can't go to the bad place and the darkness doesn't get me; it doesn't eat at me from the inside out; doesn't make me want to just end it all to stop the scary."

Zelda stood quickly, finding that very last statement to be the most frightening. But despite that, she still didn't know what to say at all. This was more than just sleep deprivation – three days of no sleep could rattle a person but it wouldn't do _this_. If there was anything Itaav was trying to get over, it was crippling paranoia to the extreme. "Let me help you…" She said. If she couldn't figure out what to do, he had to tell her how to help.

Her words actually made Itaav stop in his pacing, but only to laugh a very disturbing type of cackle. "Help? _Help_? There's no helping. The darkness doesn't go, it's always _there_. It's always been _there_. And I feel it _there_ right now." He said, with his fist clenching at every 'there' he spoke, as if he was trying to grab the very word itself. "Even when I'm awake it's _there_… like it was… like it was _then_…"

"There?" She asked. She was frightened again, though she couldn't say why. It wasn't so much she was frightened of him, though, as she was frightened for him. What was he saying? She didn't get it. If she could get him to say, maybe she could help. "Where's there?"

His head turned, and he looked at her in such a way she could only describe as crazy. With one index finger he pointed to his temple and said, "It's up here," and with the other he pointed at his heart, "And it's right here. It's _there_ and _there_, and I always feel it." And then he just collapsed. But he didn't faint. He simply fell on his back and resumed the cackling from before, "Nothing helps me. Because it's always _there_."

She hesitantly stepped forward and knelt down by Itaav. "Please Itaav. Let me help you… let me help you like Link helped you." She said gently.

Again, Itaav seemed to freeze. His red gaze met Zelda's blue. "Like Link helped me?"

With a hopeful smile, she nodded. Maybe she was finally getting through to him. But she found she was not when he burst out into a fit of insane laughter again. "Link; he's such a fucking _idiot_!" With a nutty cackling pausing his words, Zelda just stared in shock. "Link would've been better off letting me fall _all the way down_, because I was hoping _he_ would _fall all the way down_." He cackling subsided, but he still had a mad smile on his face as he sat up, looked back at Zelda and said brightly and he rocked back and forth, "I wanted to kill him, just like I wanted to kill Blind. I fucking hate him - I hate both of them, yes I do."

What on earth was going on with him? He couldn't possibly be speaking the truth. This lack of sleep mixed with his fear of those night terrors – it was driving him mad. He needed to rest. "Itaav, you need to sleep."

"No." He responded immediately, giving her a threatening glance.

And she was at a complete loss. How could she help someone who didn't want help? Especially when he so desperately needed it! And then she blurted out, "When I was little and I couldn't sleep, my mother would sing to me. Did… did your mother ever-" His face had hardened significantly, but at least he didn't seem unstable. "Um… I can sing, if you want?"

"No."

She frowned. He didn't have to say it so bluntly! And it was too bad, she was going to anyways. She didn't immediately, however, as she was debating which song to sing. Sitting down properly, she thought for a moment. Her mother would sing several songs, each for a different occasion. The standard was always the lullaby that apparently was passed down on her father's side, which her father had taught her mother upon their marriage… There were the funny songs that would make she and her brother laugh… and then there was the one she would sing whenever they felt unwell…

"_Day to night, dark to light, fall the sands of time… let the years like the gears, of a clock unwind…_" She glanced at him. Despite the fact he said he wanted none of her singing, he was not objecting. He was, however, looking out at the ocean quite sourly. "_In your mind walk through time, back to better days… Memories, like a dream, wash tears away…_" She was already feeling some of that malice and madness from before vanish a bit. It was plain to see that Itaav was quite a bit more relaxed than he was earlier, though he was trying to keep up the surly façade. "_Like a star in the sky, darkness can't reach you, light the night, joy is light till the new dawn…_" His eyes had closed; there was no pretending now. "_Cast away your old face, let go your spite… With this mask I'll ask to borrow your light…_"

She repeated the song a few more time and when Zelda had finished her singing, she chanced getting a closer look at Itaav. He was sleeping… he was really sleeping. And from the looks of it, without nightmares. She sighed in relief. She had a feeling the song would do that. Whenever her mother had sung it to her or her brother when they were feeling bad, whether it be from physical sickness or just sadness, the song had a soothing, relaxing sort of effect. For that reason, she could understand why it was called the Song of Healing. She just hoped for Itaav's sake that it really was helping him and the calm he had now would last.

But before she could dwell any further on that thought, she saw Itaav slumping over. With a bit of a yelp, she quickly grabbed him before he could wake up to a face full of sand. But as she pulled him back, she ended up pulling him towards her. And before she knew what she was really doing, his head ended up on her lap. She blushed for a moment, remembering multiple scenes from a few cheesy romance novels she'd read that had situations just like this happen. It half tempted her to just wake him up right then and there. But she decided against it. Seeing him sleep there… well, she preferred seeing him sleeping peacefully to the crazy version of him from earlier or the violent one from Bleak. Yes, this was just fine… and hopefully when he did wake up, he wouldn't be too upset with her.

She sighed and looked up, absently staring at the stars. Then she wondered what a sleeping dragon might look like, so she looked towards the peak of Dragonroost. However, she didn't see a sleeping dragon. She saw a perfectly alert one that was staring right at her. Zelda even made sure; she looked around and saw nothing of interest around her or Itaav. There was no doubt the Guardian of the Rito was looking right at her… And the way it stared… she almost felt as if it was looking into her soul.

All of a sudden, she felt very uncomfortable again.

* * *

_"Mommy, Pep-pep and Granny say Pop was a bad man."_

_"Now, now, my dear little Itaav – your grandparents don't know a thing about your Pop. He was a great man, descended from Buckfee Sallas, you know. He's the one that made _the Pride_."_

_"Does that mean I can make something better than _the Pride_?" _

_A soft chuckle, "You don't need to be a Sallas to be able to do great things, dear child. But yes, you can. I've Seen it. You'll do great things, my dear Itaav…"_

_"Really?"_

_"Of course, my dear. Of course…"_

"… Mommy…?"

But he did not hear his mother's voice. He just heard waves. So it was a dream. Or a memory. Or both. His mother was still dead; his grandparents still dicks; and he still incredibly confused by his mother's words.

Suddenly feeling incredibly itchy, Itaav dragged himself up. Why the hell was he itchy? He opened his eyes and looked down. Ah, it was because he was covered in sand. Sand got everywhere… But why was he covered in sand? He looked down to the side. If he wasn't awake before, he surely was now. "_P-princess_?" He scrambled away from the sleeping form of Zelda, who barely stirred despite his very audible stutter.

_Did I… Oh goddesses, did I…? _But upon observance of his person and Zelda, he sighed in relief. Clothes were intact on both of them, which means absolutely nothing happened… So if nothing happened, why had they fallen asleep in the sand? Granted, everything was incredibly fuzzy. The last clear memory he had was of coming to this place and deciding to plan out a new _Helmaroc_ to avoid any excuse for sleep. He shuddered, remembering very well how the nightmares had plagued him worse than ever the night they had escaped Bleak – enough so that he refused to try and sleep again after waking. And then after that the darkness was creeping up on him while he was awake and… well, he supposed bad things happened. So how did they un-happen?

Especially considering his last thoughts concerning Zelda were… dangerous… to say the least…

His thoughts were disturbed when Valoo let out an earth shaking roar. Cursing loudly (but not nearly loud enough to be heard over the dragons; roar), Itaav clamped his hands over his ears and hoped to the goddesses the damned dragon would shut up. But he was distracted as Zelda shrieked (not that he could hear it) and scrambled wildly away.

When the roar had died down, Zelda simply sat, panting wildly while looking incredibly stunned. Her hair was in disarray and she was covered in sand with those wide blue eyes… It was enough to get Itaav laughing – genuinely laughing. The princess noticed his laughter, her trance of terror broken. She felt her face redden and said indignantly, "Stop laughing! That was frightening!" But she felt a smile creep upon her face as she said it.

Itaav's laughter died down, "Sorry it's just… you looked really cute." He said, forgetting for a moment he was dealing with a princess and probably shouldn't have said such a thing. But even if he had remembered, he didn't care. It was true.

Zelda blushed, never having heard that comment from any other boy aside from her brother. But she quickly put it to the back of her mind when she remembered the night before. Leaning over to get a better look at Itaav, she asked worriedly, "Are you feeling all right?"

Blinking in confusion, the Engineer thought for a moment. He hadn't really given the faintest thought as to how he felt. And then he realized… no nightmares. He was asleep. And there had been no nightmares. So he actually felt… quite refreshed. But how? The nightmares had been going so strongly without any evidence suggesting they would stop… so why did they? "What happened?" He asked her.

The girl's face darkened. "You… you weren't well…" Was all she said, apparently not finding the appropriate words to describe just how unwell he had been.

"I got that much," he said with just the tiniest bit of annoyance. "What made the nightmares stop?"

Zelda found herself blushing again and looked away, suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious. She mumbled her response, only to have Itaav say impatiently, "Speak up!"

Pursing her lips, she sheepishly said, "I _sang_," while still avoiding looking at the purple haired boy.

He forked an eyebrow. "You sang?"

Twiddling her fingers in the way that Itaav had come to realize was her way of conveying discomfort, she mumbled, "Yes, well… It was a song that my mother used to sing whenever my brother and I were sad and…" Then Zelda realized she really had nothing to be so shy about. And if anything, Itaav needed to drop that annoying attitude of his and just say a big thank you to her. So she looked him in the eyes with a fiery gaze and said indignantly, "Well, it worked didn't it? So I think a thank you is in order!"

Itaav was stunned by the outburst. It really was the last thing he would've expected, and again, he found himself impressed by the girl. Yet for all that she seemed to continuously impress him, he felt he also wanted to snuff that little flame she had. But he pushed the somewhat disturbing thought to the back of his mind and held his hands up in surrender, "All right. I'm sorry. Thank you, Zelda."

She had been expecting a bit of a fight, so now she was off guard. Flushing, she found herself looking away again and said, "Yes, well… You're welcome, Itaav…"

There was an awkward silence in between them, then. Even Itaav found himself a bit unwilling to look at the girl… though he had to admit her answer had been interesting. She sang… To think of all things, singing would take his nightmares away… And then he became swept up in a memory. Nightmares… the nightmares had come for him and his mother…

"My mother used to sing for me too." It was more he was speaking his thoughts aloud rather than telling Zelda. But the girl was intrigued. Link had said that Itaav didn't like speaking of his mother… "I don't remember what she would sing but… her voice made the nightmares go away."

"… What was she like – your mother?" Zelda asked.

Itaav stiffened, suddenly finding himself in ground he wasn't quite comfortable treading. What was she like? What was his mother like? As far as Itaav was concerned, his mother was the most caring amazing woman he had ever known. The only problem was he could only ever remember her how she was when he'd last seen her before she died. Sickly pale and sallow, pink eyes clouded with blindness, white blond hair frayed and thinning… fingers that had once been so soft to his touch felt like brittle, dried twigs… "I don't want to talk about her."

She shuddered. Zelda could sense there was more to his words than simply not wanting to talk about it, but she did not push it. She had a feeling that if she pried too much, he might become… unwell… again.

Again there was silence, and both were so caught up in the sand in front of them, neither had noticed the dragon Valoo watching them with intrigue.

Eventually, Itaav had decided it was time to leave the area. After having holed himself there for the majority of their time on Dragonroost, he felt it was time to actually looka round for himself. He stood up and regretted it almost immediately because he found out there was sand in places he'd rather not have sand in, but it'd stay there so long as he didn't move. After brushing off the exterior sand, he looked to the princess and found that she still seemed to be avoiding his gaze. He held out a hand to her, "Come on. I don't know about you, but I've had enough of here. Besides, weren't you all excited for the festival?"

Zelda perked up and let a small smile out, forgetting her embarrassment and accepting the hand that was offered to her. Of course, after she had stood up and brushed the sand off of herself, she remembered the promise she'd made to Komali. "Oh! Oh my goodness…" Ignoring Itaav's curious look, she looked up at the sun and grimaced, "Oh… the Zora race is going to start any moment now…" She then quickly grabbed Itaav's arm and pulled him along, "Come on, we've got to hurry!"

"For what?" Itaav asked in surprise as he stumbled along behind the princess.

"I don't know, but I don't want to be late!"

* * *

And there we go. That ZeldaItaav? That was essentially it. It's not much, but do try and remember Itaav has already developed quite a bit from when he was first introduced - in other words, he a lot more rough around the edges than when we were first introduced to him. I know there's probably a bit more I want to say regarding Link and Laruto, but it's late and I'm sleepy and I can't really think too straight right now. If I remember next time, I'll get to it. -w-

Oh yes, I take no credit for the lyrics to that version of the Song of Healing. I'm about as much as song writer as my bird is a pterodactyl. Credit goes to ColdFlameZero (deviantArt name I believe). :3

**Tinselplease**, haha, thanks. We'll get to the plays soon enough. :3

**fleets**, ah Laruto. I wanted to take a different direction with her. I didn't want her to be a Ruto clone, so she'll have some different interaction with Link. You'll see what I mean. :3

**XiXIXiX**, it might very well have. XD Anyways, I actually never found the silent realms very scary. Most people list that as their least favorites parts of the game, but my least favorite parts were the ones that involved any segments of controlled falling. Three playthroughs and I only just started getting it. D: Oh the sweetness won't last, so don't get too used to it. -w- Anyways, as I believe I mentioned to you once before regarding Ghirahim and Vaati... NO, NO, NO, JUST GOD DAMN NO. Two entirely different characters with two entirely different motivations.

**Sage of Video Games**, yup. As for the ItaavZelda action... kind of got it here. Granted, it's not much and not nearly as fuzzy as Zelda's and Link's, but hey, Itaav's pretty rough around the edges right now. As for his reaction to Link in the Hero's clothes... ah, we'll get to it.

**What-a-bother**, thank you dear!


	23. Responsibilities

I have a confession to make. 99% of this chapter has been done for months. WHOOPS. Like, for real, I AM SO SORRY to leave this unupdated for so long. This story is my baby - it feels kind of pathetic to claim that this fanfiction is like my life's work but... ya know, it kind of is. But yeah, I'll go into more detail at the bottom...

* * *

They were late, though not by much. The Zora race had just concluded when they passed the racing platform, and Zelda was rather frantic to reach the point where she'd met Komali the night before. Itaav was still sufficiently baffled, but he figured he would find out soon enough so he didn't ask. And he was right. They'd just arrived on the bridge, devoid of many people due to not having a view of the race's closing ceremonies, before a Rito boy flew down and approached Zelda in a huff, mumbling, "You're _late_."

"I'm sorry!" Zelda said quickly and genuinely. "We overslept!"

Itaav's face reddened slightly as the Rito boy looked from him to Zelda. "Not like _that_."

Komali snickered but focused his attention back on Zelda. "Well, it doesn't matter. You're here now and…" He paused, suddenly becoming fidgety and his feathers shuddering up and down unevenly. "Well, you spent all day with Medli yesterday so… Uh, did she say anything about me?"

Zelda thought for a moment while Itaav rolled his eyes in the background. "Well, she did say a few things, but she sounded very frustrated. She called you lazy and irresponsible." She finally announced. The Rito boy gaped, taken aback; but then the girl remembered something else and added, "Oh yes, and she also said, 'he's so infuriating, I wonder why I put up with him sometimes.'"

At the last comment, the Engineer was sure he heard Komali's heart breaking. The Rito's boys feathers were drooping hopelessly as his shoulders slumped. "Sh-she really thinks… _that_ badly of me…"

"O-oh! I'm sure she doesn't!" Zelda added hastily.

"No, she probably does." Itaav said. When the princess gave him a frown, he just shrugged and said, "It's true. That doesn't mean it's actually a bad thing."

"But that doesn't even make sense!" Komali said indignantly.

"No, it doesn't – but girls don't make sense." Said the other boy.

Zelda, feelining defensive of her gender wanted to say something. But then she remembered the girls from the other day and came to the conclusion that they didn't make sense. "That is true…" She ended up mumbling out loud, to which Itaav rolled his eyes and muttered, "Don't even get me started on you…"

"Then what should I do? I mean… it sounds like she can't stand me." The Rito boy said frantically. He slouched, groaning loudly as he added, "She probably only stands my presence because I'm the prince…"

"Well, you should be honest, Komali." Zelda said. "Tell her how you feel; I'm sure she doesn't dislike you as much as you think."

"Ah, actually, you probably shouldn't do that. Not right away, anyways." Itaav said.

Zelda, taken aback, crossed her arms and huffed, "Why not! As a girl I appreciate honesty! I know Medli would too!"

"I never said she wouldn't," Itaav said grumpily, "I just said not to do something like that right away!"

"Wait, wait!" The Rito boy cried out, "I'm not… I'm not quite sure what either of you are trying to say…" He looked back and forth in between Zelda and Itaav, not sure which one he should place his trust in.

Zelda was about to speak, but Itaav held up a hand to her and said to Komali, "Listen – she's right, girls _do_ like honesty. But Marin also said this Medli girl thought you were kind of obnoxious to the point where she wonders why she even hangs out with you. From what little I've picked up, it sounds like she thinks of herself more like your mother than anything else. And one thing I can tell you is that while girls like honesty, they like it when a guy takes responsibility much more."

The girl's eyes were wide with surprise. She never thought Itaav was so… insightful. Because he was right, now that she'd thought of it. Having never been in a relationship, she never really thought about responsibility. She had thought honesty was the best policy, but if she was in a romantic relationship and the man never took responsibility for anything… it'd be a rather sore relationship, now wouldn't it? After all, she took her responsibilities seriously; it should only be fair the other half did too, right?

But the Rito prince seemed dismayed at the information rather than enlightened. "Take responsibility… That's easy to say." Komali said humorlessly. He leaned against the rail of the bridge, his gaze focused on a spot on the floor. "Being a prince sucks. All these expectations thrown on me; bossed around all the time, no freedom to just be me… I don't want these responsibilities. I just want to be normal."

And since Zelda had just been thinking of her responsibility, she suddenly became offended at this boy's lack of it. She was a princess. Sure, she didn't like all that it entailed – especially since her place in the family was just to sit and look pretty. And when she could, she'd wander about the Inner Wall in her brother's old clothes and pretend to be someone else… but she'd never do it for too long. Her role, while limited, was still important. And maybe she couldn't understand. She wasn't like Zev or Komali, heir to a throne… but if anything, that just made them more important. She couldn't contain her voice. "But you're not normal – you're the prince. You're heir to your throne – that's very important! It'll be your responsibility to take care of the Rito – you can't just throw that on someone else!"

This time, Komali's feathers ruffled up in offense as he said, "What do _you_ know about it?"

"Hey," Itaav's voice came out icy, "She knows a lot more than you think. And even if she didn't, she'd still be right." The Rito was taken aback, opening his mouth to try and say something back, but the Engineer wouldn't let him, "You were born into this – and yeah, maybe that's unfair… it's just as unfair to throw that on someone else too. If you think of yourself as the victim all the time, then I guess I can understand why this girl you like isn't into you."

Komali looked as if he'd been slapped in the face. Feathers puffed up to a ridiculous looking display, he was about to lash out until Zelda said, "And you know… Medli's the one that picks up after you." The Rito prince's feathers then flattened out. He looked at Zelda blankly with a "Huh?" The girl nodded, "Medli was telling me yesterday that with you gone, she spends a lot of time taking over your responsibilities or covering for you. And you know, now that I think of it, she's sad more than she is frustrated. I think she thinks you'd be a great prince if you put your mind to it, but you don't."

Brow furrowed, Komali crossed his arms. He seemed to be thinking deeply on something before coming to back to reality and saying, "That's… that's something to think about…" Looking back and forth between Zelda and Itaav, he continued, "I guess… I guess you guys must be onto something. You two seem to be pretty good with each other, so you have to know what you're talking about… Thanks."

"Wait, what?" And alarmed Itaav asked. "What do you mean we have to know what we're talking about?! It's not like that!" But Komali had already flown off, apparently not having heard anything that the paler boy had said.

Evidently Zelda didn't either. She just watched Komali fly off with a hand on her hip while puffing out her lower lip in a pout. "He's not very polite, is he?"

"That's the nice way of putting it..." Itaav grumbled, though it seemed half hearted.

She had noticed the lack of emotion in that response and found it odd. She'd noted that when Itaav got worked up, he tended to stay worked up for a little bit unless something else caught his attention. So she followed his gaze, which remained upward… and then she felt her stomach knot up at the realization of why Itaav's fire suddenly snuffed. There were plenty of Rito flying about…

Tentatively, she stepped next to him and glanced at his face. It seemed devoid of emotion, but she could see there was a certain sadness in his expression. She wasn't sure if would be wiser to say something or nothing.

"It's really gone…" Itaav sighed.

"I'm sorry…" Zelda mumbled.

"Not your fault." _Actually it kind of is,_ said the thoughts in the back of his head, but he disregarded them. "I just have to build a new one… eventually." And the irritation was back. Where was he going to find the time to make a new _Helmaroc_? For that matter, where was he going to find the resources? At least on _the Pride_ he had a paycheck and perks. _Don't think about it. You're just going to get angry._ He told himself. He didn't want to be upset. He was tired of being upset…

"I hope you do," Zelda said encouragingly. "It was a great invention, Itaav. I regret that I couldn't have had a proper ride on it – every time I was on it we were running from something and… I would've liked to have a ride on it without being worried. I mean, _flying_? That's… that's amazing! Because really, who would have thought that Hylians could _fly_?"

Itaav actually smiled at Zelda's enthusiasm. So far, she had been the only one to really appreciate his departed airship before it was destroyed. And she was right; she'd only ever ridden it while there was some doom and gloom hovering over them. And while he still found himself rather confused on how this girl affected him… he wouldn't have minded taking her out on it at least once without any worries. It would be nice. It was a shame that Hylians couldn't fly.

His eyes widened. Hylians couldn't fly but… _I flew. That once. _Without_ the Helmaroc._ "I can." He blurted out blankly.

"Huh?" Zelda asked.

"I can fly." Even though he was saying it a second time, it still came out awkward and blank. It was just such a weird thought. "Remember, back at the Dancing Cat… I… I _flew_."

The princess of _the Pride_ gasped, "That's right! You did! But… but you said that you didn't know how."

"I still don't but-"

"But you said it was dangerous to try!"

Oh so back at Bleak it was a great idea to try but now it was dangerous? He kept that sarcastic comment in his mind and said instead, "Well yeah, it's dangerous but I had the _Helmaroc_ then. I don't now."

Zelda pursed her lips, unsure whether she should support this. While it was true on Bleak she had been gung-ho about getting him to try, she was well aware of how dangerous it was now. Especially when remembering the horrible fall from the _Helmaroc_. If Itaav failed… she hated to think of it. Especially now since they were actually around each other _civilly_ like normal people.

Perhaps Itaav had sensed her unease because he said, "Not that I need your permission or anything but I won't try anything stupid crazy. I already did something like that once, don't want to try again."

"Oh, you mean when you and Link were little and tried Scaling?" She asked brightly.

It was quite an impressive feat that Itaav nearly tripped while standing absolutely still. Face reddened and obviously embarrassed, he demanded through gritted teeth, "_Who told you that?!_" But before Zelda could answer in that same bright tone with that oblivious look of hers (because she'd practically forgotten that Itaav had no real memory of what happened the night before), the Engineer composed himself, took a breath and said, "Don't answer. Link told you."

She nodded happily.

"Speaking of Link, where is he?" _Because I believe an ass kicking is in order._

A hand shot up to her mouth. "That's right! Oh… he must be worried…" Itaav cocked an eyebrow curiously and Zelda quickly added, "I said I was going to find you last night and Link had to go with Laruto for a fitting so he'd probably be back late, but then I never showed up back at the Inn-"

"Wait, what? Laruto? Fitting?" Itaav interrupted.

With a worried smile, Zelda simply said, "Link might be at the Inn; I don't want him to worry, so I'll tell you as we walk."

* * *

The Rito girl at the Inn said that Zelda had never come back… He had waited there all night for some hope of them walking in, but no such luck. When first light broke through, he went and searched, but still nothing. And now he was back, feeling so incredibly _stupid_. Link was absolutely terrified. How could he have possibly let this happen?! _Stupid, stupid, _stupid_! Not even a week ago and you already screwed up the promise to Anjean! Stupid!_ He scolded himself as he paced back and forth in the lobby. If only that picky Zora hadn't been so nitpicky about that ridiculous costume! Where was she? Was she with Itaav? Were they both all right?

"… Really? Volunteered just like that?"

"Well, I thought it would be a nice not to think about being chased around for a little while."

Link's head jerked up upon hearing the voices of Itaav and Zelda. While incredibly relieved, he also found himself rather upset. Where had they _been_? And a more paranoid part of him wondered what were they _doing_?

"Oh hey – it's Mr. Hotshot himself," Itaav said with a smirk upon noticing Link.

The blond boy frowned and marched up to the duo. "Where were you two?" While the question was directed to both of them, Link's gaze was harsh and focused on Itaav.

"Relax, _dad_, nothing happened. She found me this morning passed out on the other side of the island." The paler teen snapped back. Giving Zelda cursory glance, he asked, "Isn't that right, Marin?"

With the spotlight suddenly on her, Zelda froze for a moment. It wasn't right at all, yet Itaav wanted her to lie about it? But lying was… that was wrong. The memory of her first night in the Inn with Link, however, reminded her of how uncomfortable the Scaler had been with the idea of sharing the same sleeping space. She was getting the impression that boys and girls sharing the same sleeping space unless related or married was something of a controversial subject. So Itaav must have wanted her to lie so that Link wouldn't feel uncomfortable about the whole thing. If that was the case, it was a white lie then, wasn't it? And in a way it wasn't entirely untruthful… Itaav hadn't exactly been himself the night before, so she'd found the real him this morning, right? "Y-yes! That's right!" Well, now that she'd started it, "I'm sorry Link, I ended up sleeping on Mr. Linebeck's boat last night. I was really sleepy, I didn't think I could make it back to the Inn."

Link gave Zelda pensive look, as if trying to figure out whether that was the truth or not. Eventually coming to the conclusion Zelda wasn't the lying type, he shook his head in dismissal and said, "It's fine I just…" He looked at Itaav again, delivering the same harsh glare as before, "I thought something bad may have happened."

The Engineer did not appreciate that implication. With a frown, he asked crossly, "Something on your mind, _pal_?"

The room seemed to have gotten chillier between the two boys. Zelda looked back and forth between them worriedly. The way the two were looking at each other reminded Zelda an awful lot of the way two dogs in a territory spat might look at each other. But as the staring contest went on, Link eventually looked away and muttered, "No… Nothing." Both boys knew this wasn't the end of that conversation – and Link didn't want Zelda around when this tension would be addressed again. She had enough to worry about without seeing them tear each other's heads off.

While the atmosphere was less tense, there was still some passive animosity in the air. Zelda attempted to perk things back up by saying cautiously, "Link, I was just telling Itaav about our roles in the Hero's Legend play!"

"Yeah – she says you got one of the leads – the Hero of Time, himself." Itaav said with forced liveliness.

Link grumbled – partly from still being in his bad mood and partly because he still wasn't particularly excited about being a part of that play. Then he groaned audibly when he remembered, "Ack… Laruto says I have to run through my lines with her before rehearsals… Dammit, I nearly forgot."

With a playful frown, Zelda wagged a finger at Link. "You can't forget about that – you're the star of the play! What time does she want to meet with you?"

"Sometime soon…"

"Don't sound so excited – you're practically jumping off the walls." Itaav drawled. Putting all that earlier anger behind him, he patted the Scaler on the back and said cheerily, "Come on, cheer up. These fishy and feathery ladies love you!"

That made Link blush… And it also made Zelda cross her arms unhappily.

"Yeah well… I'd still rather not have to do it…" Link mumbled.

Itaav rolled his eyes, "Killjoy."

"Oh but let's bring the joy back to life!" Zelda said, seeing an opportunity to change the subject again. "We should all do something together before Link has to go!"

"Well, it's too late for breakfast so I say lunch – don't remember the last time I ate." The Engineer said matter of factly. And he really didn't. For all he knew, he'd been eating sand.

The suggestion was welcomed by the other two, and Zelda even happily exclaimed that they could try the various festival foods. Link had tried to object, because if the festival food was anything like the stuff on the mainland, it was going to be expensive. But Zelda and Itaav didn't listen to Link's complaint, instead deciding to race to the nearest food vendor's stall. The display left the blond boy flabbergasted. Zelda and Itaav were getting along… And Itaav didn't have any passive aggressive insults or sarcasm to throw at her!

Link, again, found himself looking at the pair with concern… but his main focus was Itaav. His friend had gone from happy-go-lucky one day, angry and upset the next, downright murderous after that, and was now back to happy-go-lucky? How did that work? But as Zelda looked in Link's direction and beckoned him over to try the spiced salmon, and he saw the wide smile on her face, he dropped the concern. There was already an understanding between the boys that they had an unfinished conversation. But right now was a time to forget all of the drama the past week had thrown at them.

* * *

Niko let out a sigh of boredom as he swung in his hammock. The Gerudo had only stayed for that one night on Bleak, and the Boss had wasted no time when he decided on pursuing piracy. It was only a matter of hours before the Boss had gotten them a ship… and Niko hadn't left the ship since they'd boarded it. This was because, as the youngest and newest member of what had been Blind's gang, he was ranked swabby. He was the lowest rung on the ladder, basically, so while everyone else was out and doing something important… he was back on the ship. Alone.

He hopped off the hammock, again letting out a long groaning breath displaying just how bored he was. It probably would have had more of an effect if anyone had been around to hear it, but for now it was all he could do to vent his growing frustration. Why couldn't he do anything? Yeah, he knew someone had to watch the ship, but why was it always him?

Slumping up the stairs and to the deck, he went and saw that he was, in fact, very much alone. Looking over the side of the ship and out at the pier didn't show him any familiar faces either.

"Ack, I'm so boooored!" The young teen whined, gripping the bandana on his head as if he was going to yank it off and throw it aside. And that was when he caught a strange movement in the shadows. "Huh?"

It was the shadow of the main mast… and specifically it was the crow's nest. Something was on the crow's nest?

A surge of emotions ran through the young man's head. Fear was first and foremost. What was up there? He hadn't heard anyone walking on the ship – yeah, he'd checked to see if anyone was back but really he knew there wasn't. The second was confusion. If it was a stranger coming to steal a ship, why would they go up to the crow's nest? And for a ship this big they would need accomplices but, again, no sounds of anyone else on the ship. And thirdly was excitement. It was his chance to prove himself to the Boss and the rest of the crew! If he could get whoever it was out or catch them by surprise or something maybe he wouldn't be left behind so much!

Mentally prepping himself by taking a deep breath and pumping his fists out in front of him, he scurried over to the ladder of the mast and began to climb. He'd do this – he'd catch this intruder and he'd be hero of the day!

"… wretched children… where on earth could they have gone?!"

Whoever was up there was talking to himself. Niko had to keep himself from chuckling. If that guy was distracted by talking to himself, it'd be all the easier to sneak up on him! Getting to the top, he peeked over to see the guy he was going to catch. And then he ducked quickly. _He's _green_ and he has _horns_!_ He squeaked in his mind. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the sight and if his plan should change because of it.

"Oh, His Highness is going to be so upset with me… Ugh! Why couldn't she just be a good little princess and come along quietly?!"

_Princess?_ Did he mean… like, the princess he'd met the other day (even though he hadn't known then)?

"And after I'd heard rumors of that blasted airship being here…"

"He _is_ talking about her…" he whispered to himself.

"Who's that?!"

Niko's mouth clamped shut. He didn't think he'd be heard! As quietly as he could, he began to climb down the ladder.

"I said, who's _there_?!"

The little pirate tried not to flinch. The voice sounded angry. But he continued downwards… that was until he saw something whiz past him and then yank him by the back of his collar. He yelped, feeling himself turned around and seeing the odd horned man from before. Given the small stature of it, he didn't think the little guy would be able to carry him so easily. But that didn't make the situation any better! Niko was still very high off of the deck and the this angry little man before him had all these creepy, sharp teeth!

"Ugh, another _brat_; just my luck."

"Huh – _hey_!" While Niko was still terrified, he didn't exactly appreciate being called a brat. He was a week away from turning fifteen! But the demon didn't seem to hear or care; he just let out a sigh and released his grip on Niko. The little pirate panicked and let out a high pitched scream of terror, expecting to be mashed upon the deck… only to find that he wasn't falling to a horrible death but rather slowly hovering downwards.

"Oh be _quiet_," the demon snapped, his little fingers enclosing the bridge of his nose in frustration.

Niko, despite the soles of his feet landing softly upon the deck, still had the remnants of a high pitched scream wisping away from his mouth. He was having a rather difficult time registering what was happening; was he dreaming? Because that guy's feet were still hovering just an inch or two off of the deck and he could've sworn he was up high and… he wasn't sure what to think.

With a sigh and a dramatic flourish of a rolling wrist, the demon thought aloud, "I suppose being civil about this _would_ be quicker – I need information, after all. I may as well…" He turned his head to Niko, and the little pirate, whose scream was now just a tiny little whistling through a wide open mouth, had the idea that the look of utter disgust upon the little green man's face was actually toned down. "All right, brat. I had heard there was an airship here – but it's not. Do you know anything about it and its crooked little passengers?"

And then Niko was reminded about what he'd heard just before this demon had spotted him. The demon was after the princess! If the Boss had let the princess go, then Niko absolutely, couldn't possibly say anything… not that he did know anything, but it was the principal of the thing! Finding his courage, he stood up straight with his chest puffed out and his lips tightened into a straight line. Not a word was coming out of him!

The demon forked an eyebrow. "Really? Growing a spine _now_? Just my luck… But…" A demented smile crept on the green man's face. Before Niko could register it, the little man had snatched his collar and lifted him in the air – a surprising feat of strength for someone no bigger than the little pirate himself… Though, in retrospect, Niko supposed he shouldn't have been surprised since this thing also had the ability to levitate. That thought quickly left him in favor of panic when the demon then hissed wickedly, "It's been a long time since I had the pleasure of slicing up humanoid skin."

And then a Wolfos smashed into the little green man.

Niko was released from the strange little being's grasp and fell to the deck roughly. But he didn't wince in pain, because if the Wolfos was here-

"I don't remember giving the likes of you permission on my ship." Blind said nonchalantly as he boarded the deck and watched his Wolfos mauling the tiny arm of the green man, who was now shrieking shrilly.

"Get this mangy mutt off of me!" The little demon screeched.

Blind ignored the demon, instead walking over to Niko and offering the young pirate a hand. "You all right there, Nikki?"

"Niko, sir." Niko corrected, happily accepting the hand offered to him and pulling himself up.

"Yeah, whatever." Blind said carelessly, turning his attention back to the demon who was now stringing a never ending sentence of cusses as the Wolfos continued to bit down upon it. "Who's he and why's he on my ship?"

"Oh- OH!" Niko got the hero worship out of his head for a moment, "B-boss, he was in the Crow's Nest and he was talking about the princess!"

For the briefest of moments, Blind's eyes narrowed as he looked at the demon. But he recovered from the expression quickly, gave a tired look to Niko and said, "Princess? You've been playing pretend games again."

"Wha- b-but Boss-"

"You've been playing pretend games again." Blind's tone had a frosty feel to it this time, one that Niko finally got.

"… Oh… Y-yeah, Boss… Pretend games, you know me…" The young pirate stuttered with a nervous giggle.

The former crime-lord of Bleak then faced the demon again, "Release," he said, calling off the Wolfos. The beast reluctantly did so, and Blind approached the still cursing demon that was now clutching a bloodied arm. It glared up at Blind with angry eyes, but one could argue that Blind was fearless to a fault. The man simply knelt down to the demon's level, looking almost bored. "Get off my ship."

"You insolent, little – do you have any idea who you're talking to?! What I can do-"

"I don't care." Blind interrupted, still looking quite bored. "I really don't. You're looking for a princess? You might find a whore or two on the streets of Bleak who calls herself that. And that kid back there's stupid enough to still be playing pretend. But again, I don't care about you or what you're doing. You're on my ship. I want you _off_ my ship."

The demon bared his pointed teeth at Blind. "I should rip you apart-"

"If you could have, you would have. Perhaps instead, I should rip you apart?" Blind said, suddenly going from bored to smiley and cheerful.

For a moment, the demon seemed positively taken aback. A flash of anger came across his face, and then it subsided into something like amusement. "Fine then. You've a fair point. I'll get off your little ship." And then the demon picked himself up, shook his injured arm a bit, showing it already half healed. He floated upwards off the ship, but before flying off, gave Blind a curious look, "You know, it's a shame. If you weren't a silly Hylian, His Highness could make use of someone like you."

Blind simply stared sharply at the demon. "Too bad I have a problem with royalty."

The little demon sneered and flew off. Not a sound was made from either Blind or Niko until the demon was out of sight.

"Hmph, guess that's the guy they were talking about." Blind muttered to himself; remembering when he'd followed the princess and her friends to Pennysworth's office. A demon was after them.

"Um, Boss…?" Blind looked down to Nikki or Niko or whatever his name was. "What was that about?"

"Don't worry about it, kid." The former crime-lord replied, absently scuffing Niko's hair before heading off to the captain's cabin. "I'm gonna be planning; anyone comes back, they know what to do, but if they disturb me, it better be because the ship is on fire, ya hear."

"Yes, sir!" Niko said with a salute. He kept himself saluting up until his hero, mentor, and captain locked himself shut in the cabin, and the young swabby wondered what had just happened with that green guy to get his captain all contemplaty and junk.

* * *

Firstly, 101 reviews. ;A; IT ONLY TOOK 22 CHAPTERS AND LIKE 2 YEARS BUT IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW. I have only ever had one story with 100 plus reviews and it just... it feels really great to know that people are reading and enjoying it. For reals, all, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude for all of you who read this and continuously do so, despite the fact that I take forever to update. I LOVE YOU ALL.

So yeah, here is the time where I throw excuses at you such as - schoolwork and cosplay and things like that... And really, that has been most of what's eating my time lately. Enough so that by the time I opened up this file I saw "Oh... OH _BUCK_ THIS IS LIKE PRACTICALLY DONE ALREADY." So yeeeaaaah... A part of my hesitance on releasing it earlier, I remember now, was that I wasn't sure if I should've included the last section. I simply wanted to do an update on Cole since it's been a bit, but wasn't sure how to execute it. And I simply used Blind and co as an excuse because I may or may not have a massive lady boner for Blind... Hehe... yeeeeeeah. But after looking back on this with a fresh pair of eyes, I felt that it wasn't a bad move and was a great way to set up for when Blind eventually does reappear in the story.

So yeah, some more ItaavZelda bonding, the beginnings of the triangle I've been talking about since the very start of this story, as well as some other stuff and... yeah, I really have nothing much else to say. So until next chappy - and don't ask when it is, I really have no idea. D:

**ksv12**, thank you so much! X3 I take pride in providing well thought out stories in a type of writing that often isn't taken seriously. :3

**TheWindMage**, thank you!

**Guest**, why yes, yes he did. XD And yes it is! I've always loved the lyrics to it, and when YouTube user adrisaurus sings it... so beautiful. Funnily enough though, the song wasn't my first choice to include in this, but I felt given the nature of the song, it was better suited for the situation. :3

**fleets**, mwahahahaha, all in due time my dear fleetage. And I know that feel about being picky about stories and even pickier about what stories to review. And I am honored, my dear, that you've stuck with this old hat through many stories. X3

**Amychama248**, it wasn't soon, and I'm sorry for that but hopefully you'll still enjoy it!

**SubZeroChimera**, why yes, Valoo has found something interesting to watch... and we'll find out about that and more later. :3


	24. The Meaning of Flight

Aloha my Audacious Audience! I've decided to greet you all with various greetings following the alphabet at the beginning of each chapter! I have no idea why but I want to! Anyways... yeah, still alive and kicking! I meant to have this up earlier but you know... I'm kind of _in Japan_ right now. So I've been distracted by various things. I shall ramble more at the bottom; in the meantime, here is your chapter! Please ignore mistakes as I haven't checked this chapter over and there are bound to be a few! Sorry!

* * *

"Ooooooh! I want to try that game next!" Zelda exclaimed happily, rushing off to a stall that featured a game in which players had to try and knock down as many pins as possible by throwing a ball. Link and Itaav had already resigned themselves to the fact that Zelda that when Zelda said, "I want to try" she really meant "I'm going to mindlessly run over and try it regardless of either of your opinions." However, Link was the only one who seemed to be worried about anything.

"She's not a baby, you know. For the most part, she's pretty good at handling herself." Itaav commented upon seeing Link frowning slightly in worry as Zelda got into the line to the game's stall.

"We made a promise to Anjean to protect her – and I know it's not so important to you, but _I_ take promises seriously." Link said somewhat harshly.

Itaav frowned, but didn't look at Link, still focusing on Zelda. "Guess we should clear the air, _buddy_. What's your problem?" He asked levelly.

Link gritted his teeth, but also kept his attention on the princess and his voice level. "What's _my_ problem? What's yours? One day you're normal, the next you go damn freaking crazy and then avoid us, only to go crazier from what I've heard. The hell is wrong with you?"

The conversation paused for a moment as Zelda looked back at the boys, waving happily at them before her turn at the stall. They both gave her false smiles before she turned around to focus on the game. The two boys finally looked at each other, both their expressions lined with angry tension. "So, Itaav – what's your problem?"

The paler boy clenched his jaw. "I don't know." He answered quietly.

"Well you better figure it out," Link snapped. "If you don't get your shit together, you'll end up killing all of us."

"I got my shit together," Itaav said, trying his best to keep his voice down. "As you can see, I'm just dandy and I'm getting along with Miss Nibs over there-"

"Yeah, speaking of, why is that all of a sudden?" Link didn't hide the suspicion in his voice.

"Wow, I'm getting really sick of that accusatory tone. Why does it even matter?" The Engineer asked, "She found me this morning, gave me a stupid little pep-talk – nothing happened."

The blond boy kept his poker face on, trying to see if he could read his friend to see if there was truth to those words. But Link never could read Itaav… and while before it didn't really matter, the fact that Link couldn't read him now was disconcerting. "It matters, Itaav, because I'm beginning to doubt I can trust you." He responded quietly.

_That makes two of us._ Itaav thought. "I'm fine. I'm over it." He finally said, his tone resigned. Briefly, he wondered how much of a lie that was.

The conversation came to an abrupt end when they heard Zelda crying out, "I won, I won, I won!" She was hop-skipping over to the boys happily, clutching something in her hands tightly. "Look Link, Itaav! Look what I won!" She held out her prize proudly, showing off a small peach colored ocarina.

"Whoa, that doesn't look like a consolation prize…" Itaav commented.

"The man at the stall said I had a 'freakishly strong arm!'" She announced happily.

Link frowned, "I… I don't think that was a compliment…"

"Don't ruin it for her," Itaav said quietly to the blond boy, before asking the princess, "So can you play it?"

"Nope, but it seems like it would be fun to learn!" She said cheerfully.

The conversation somehow felt very strange to Link… And then he realized the dynamics of their normal conversation had suddenly changed since Zelda and Itaav were being friendly while Link was being the killjoy.

"_There_ you are!" The sound of the voice was accompanied by a sharp tug on Link's ear.

Link let out a yowl of pain, and Itaav and Zelda only looked in surprise as a Zora woman in a blue dress began to say, "I've been looking for you all day! I need to see if the costume fits you before you begin rehearsals today!" She was quite adept at ignoring Link's yelps of pain as she looked at Zelda and then smiled brightly, "Oh, yes, Marin, your costume should be ready. It's not much, I confess, but it's always been sketchy about how the real Sheik looked like."

"Um, it's quite fine but-"

"Oh, and who's this fella, the other Hylian that came with you two?" Asked the Zora, her attention now on Itaav, who wasn't at all sure what to make of the situation. But the Zora simply went on to introduce herself, "I'm Lulu – costume designer and choir director for the plays; your friends are in good hands, I'll make sure they put up a heck of a show!"

"… Sure…" Was all Itaav could manage.

"Now if you two don't mind, I'll be taking your friend here," Lulu said in a sing-song voice before dragging a very reluctant (and vocal) Link away.

"… What just happened?" Itaav asked as Lulu and Link disappeared through the crowds.

"Link was dragged away by Lulu… I had only met her for a moment last night when Medli took me to borrow a lyre…" Zelda had said wonderingly, "Medli told me she was a bit forceful, but I had no idea…"

"Yeesh, and you say Link has to spend a lot of time with that Laruto girl, huh? Hopefully she's nothing like _that_." While he and Link may not have been on the best of terms, at the moment, he wouldn't want to subject Link to that kind of torture. A very dark thought almost came into his mind, but he stopped it before it could form completely in his mind.

"Oh no, Laruto's very quiet actually – she seems quite lovely, really." Zelda reassured.

"Who's quite lovely?"

A new voice interrupted the two.

"Medli!" Zelda said with a cheerful smile, "We were talking about Laruto – Oh! That's right, Medli, this is the friend I was looking for, I found him! This is Itaav, and Itaav, this is Medli!"

Itaav had already recognized the name; aside from everything Zelda had already mentioned, this Rito girl was the one that the bratty prince had a thing for, and he supposed for a bird-girl, she was kind of cute. He merely nodded in her direction.

"So you're Itaav? Marin's been very worried about you – glad to see you're fine." Medli said kindly.

He found he didn't have much to say to that, he didn't say anything, just gave a small smile that might have been taken as mocking almost. It was strange, because he normally considered himself an excellent conversationalist, but he couldn't find anything to say that wouldn't have sounded like forcing small talk.

But if the Rito girl took any offense to his lack of conversation, she didn't show it, and focused her attention back on the blond girl, who was already jabbering on about what they had just been speaking of, "We were talking about Laruto - was saying she seemed lovely, though I'm really not sure. I haven't really had any sort of conversation with her; in fact, I only think she's ever had a full conversation with Link…"

Medli chuckled, "It is strange – normally she can be such a chatterbox; I guess she's just shy around Hylians – either that or she's just distracted." The last part was said in a manner that reminded Itaav more of a Keaton than a bird.

"I imagine she would be distracted – putting a play together is a lot of work!" Zelda said matter-of-factly, "As it is we have to rehearse every afternoon until the play!"

"Really?" First time Itaav had been hearing about that.

"I didn't tell you? Yes, every night!" Zelda said again, sounding as if she was telling a scary story rather than emphasizing a simple fact.

"The sacrifices one makes for theater…" Medli said playfully.

"Huh… Guess that leaves my afternoons kind of free…" The pale haired boy mused.

"Huh… Oh! Oh, I'm _sorry_, Itaav!" Zelda apologized.

He forked an eyebrow at her, "For what? I don't mind. I'm a big boy, you know – can pull up my own pants and everything. No need for a babysitter."

Medli then sighed, "Speaking of babysitting, have you two seen Prince Komali anywhere?"

"Nope," Itaav said before Zelda could answer honestly. The blond girl shot him a confused look, but took it as another "white lie" that Itaav had said for the best intentions. Honestly, she didn't see why it was so bad to mention that they had seen Komali earlier but… Well, much as she hated to admit it, Blind had been right when he told her she knew nothing of the world outside of the Inner Wall. Chances were, Itaav knew what he was doing much better than she did.

Medli let out another sigh, "I suppose that's to be expected. I was hoping he might pass by the fledging class – give some inspiration to the young fliers-"

That caught the Magic Engineer's attention, "Fledging class?"

"Ah, yes, the fledging classes. They're for Rito children who have just gotten their scales from Valoo and are beginning to learn to fly. It's scary at first, for a lot of children; they don't know anything but land until they receive their scale, and we Rito didn't exactly become bird people through natural means – it isn't quite instinctive for us like it is in natural birds who just jump off of trees and then just fly. Most o us are rather frightened of heights at first."

"Z'at so… Can I get in on that?" Itaav paused and then shook his head. He then corrected his statement to a baffled looking Medli, "No, wait – I _am_ getting in on that. Where do they have these classes?"

"_Huh_?" Was all the Rito girl managed before sputtering, "B-but you're… you're _Hylian_! You can't fly!"

"Yeah, hasn't really stopped me before." He said plainly.

"I _have_ seen him fly." Zelda pointed out.

But Valoo's attendant didn't seem to be registering any of the words, her mind incapable of grasping the idea of a Hylian flying.

"Listen, Birdie, you don't have to show me the way, just tell me where to go."

"_Excuse_ me?" Medli gasped, her feathers ruffling slightly, clearly offended by the nickname suddenly throw upon her.

Zelda quickly stepped forward and said, "He doesn't mean anything by it!" She thought, anyways. But the statement seemed to pacify Medli for the moment, or at least take her attention off of Itaav for a moment to give Zelda a wary look. "He's just curious; it couldn't hurt for him to at least see the class, right?" The princess asked hopefully.

"I… I guess not…" She mumbled, but she turned to Itaav and gave him a sharp look, "And my name is _Medli_ – not birdie."

Itaav smirked, "All right then, _Medli_. Lead the way."

The bird girl frowned, looked at Zelda, and said, with no effort to whisper, "Your friend's a real charmer."

"Only when I want to be," Itaav chuckled as Zelda gave a weak shrug. Truthfully, she didn't know how to respond to Medli's statement. She had trouble understanding the sarcasm at first, though she'd caught on quicker than she used to. But really, she'd never known Itaav to be anything else than he what he was.

Luckily, Medli didn't seem too put off by the demeanor. The bird girl accepted quickly enough that Itaav was no doubt a bit annoying, but she had figured that he couldn't be much worse than Komali. She still couldn't wrap her head around that Hylian boy taking flight – he didn't have any feathers, for one. Nonetheless, she led the way through the hustle and bustle of the current festivities, making sure she didn't lose "Marin" or Itaav in the crowds. The bird girl took them to a stair leading up to one of Dragonroost's many balconies, though both Hylians took note that compared to other staircases, this one seemed to have less traffic.

It was easy to tell when they arrived at their final destination. The balcony was low to the ground near the shallows of the island, and standing along the wooden balcony were several young Rito and an older one that was most likely the flight instructor. The instructor seemed to be in the middle of some sort of pep talk to the young ones when the trio arrived, but his words stopped upon seeing the new arrivals.

"Medli," the instructor began, stopping his words short as his crimson eyes flicked from her to the students. There was obviously some hidden language there that was saying, 'Is Komali coming or not?' The girl grimaced in response to that question, and the instructor only grimaced in return before turning his attention to the two strangers he hadn't ever expected to see at a Rito flight lesson. "And who are these two? Observers?"

Before Medli could respond, Itaav stepped up and flashed a smile that might have made Zelda blush a bit had it been directed towards her. "Participant." He said with a bit a pride.

All of the Rito present just stared at the pale Hylian absently. After a second, however, the fledging Rito children all huddled together and began to whisper excitedly. The instructor immediately turned his head around and squawked, "Quiet back there!" before turning back to ignore Itaav completely and face Medli, "You can't possibly be serious?"

"One hundred percent." Itaav said, something in his face saying he wasn't entirely happy about being dismissed so easily. "I want in on this class. I can fly."

The instructor seemed to be in pain as he turned his attention towards the Magic Engineer, "Forgive me for sounding crass but, with what feathers?! For Zephos's sake, your bone structure is all wrong! Your bones are… are _solid_! It makes no sense to even try!"

"And you guys evolved from an _aquatic_ species; tell me how much sense _that_ makes." Itaav responded some of his own cool temper finally breaking.

The Rito instructor's feathered face fluffed a bit in irritation. His beak opened and snapped shut several times, trying to find some sort of argument to beat Itaav's but failing. Saying 'a dragon did it' sounded ridiculous in response. Upon realizing he couldn't come up with a good comeback, he looked to Medli who immediately broke the gaze. It seemed she wanted nothing more than to stay out of the altercation. Zelda, however, stepped forward and piped up, "Excuse Mr. Rito Instructor… I know it sounds really ridiculous and impossible but… he can fly. I've seen him do it."

The bird man sighed in exasperation and said, "Hang gliding does _not_ count."

"He wasn't hang gliding," the princess said defensively, "He was _flying_! There were no gliding mechanisms or parachutes, he shot up and _flew_. I don't know how but… it saved my life! Both of our lives! We would probably be Goron tracks if he hadn't flown!"

And again the instructor looked as if he wanted nothing more than to smash his head against a wall. But despite the look, Zelda's argument had worn him down. With a heavy groan, he finally gave Itaav a defeated look and asked, "You flew, did you? What was it like?"

The question stumped Itaav. It was his turn to give a blank stare to the Rito man (which gave the instructor a glimmer of hope that he wasn't completely insane). Itaav actually hadn't really thought about it. When he had held tightly onto Zelda when he saw the Gorons rolling towards him, all he could really remember feeling at the time was sheer panic. It was fear that they were going to die in what he considered one of the worst ways possible. Granted, he never really thought he would ever die by being run over by a Goron, but when he thought of it he found he could think of lots of other ways he would prefer dying.

But the instructor had just started to give in, almost willing to give him a shot. He couldn't give up now. Then again, he wasn't one for giving up. He oculd admit to having an incredible hard head, never knew when to give up. And if it wasn't for that attitude, he wouldn't have created the _Helmaroc_. So as he stood, he began to really think of how those few seconds of flight felt behind the fear of death. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine himself flying again – this time without the roll happy Gorons. What did it feel like?

Itaav still couldn't quite grasp it. Everything about the first time had been rushed and adrenaline fueled. All he knew was that the feeling of flight on the _Helmaroc_ wasn't quite the same…

And what happened next was strange, almost like a repeat of what happened when he had overheard Anjean and Byrne that one night. For a moment – just the briefest of moments – he felt himself in the air. There was something different about him that he couldn't quite place, but he was in the air, flying. He had been above clouds, soaring above a land that seemed familiar but he knew wasn't the Continent. Glee bubbled up within him, knowing that he was up high in the sky and no one could reach him He was free – truly free with no restrictions placed upon him.

"It's freedom," he said quickly. If Link was there right now, he would have recognized the gleam of the old Itaav he had known; the annoyingly inquisitive, push-his-boundaries, manic Engineer that had been _the Pride_'s greatest genius since Buckfee Sallas. The pale boy had a look on him that suggested he had just discovered something _fantastic_. And as if to prove that, he continued on, "But it's not just any kind of freedom – it's _absolute_ freedom. When you're up there, you're untouchable. Nothing but the wind against your skin and yourself, to go wherever you feel is right to go… It's… I don't think I could explain it properly. Not without sounding cheesy anyways."

Again, the Rito man looked defeated, though this time he looked almost a bit happy to be wrong. Apparently what Itaav had said had been worded just right to make a believer out of the skeptical bird man. "… I still don't know if you really can fly, Hylian… but what you just described is the very essence of what it means to fly. Heck, I'd say you have a better idea of it than most of the youngsters here." That comment seemed to have a few of the young Fledglings turning in their taloned toes in embarrassment. Yet even though he'd said that, the instructor still didn't seem too confident in his following words, "I'm not exactly sure if you can accomplish anything here but… you can stick around, Hylian. Maybe you can teach some of these Fledglings the spirit of flight."

A broad grin came onto the Engineer's face. All he wanted was the chance and he got it. In truth, he was keeping himself from jumping up in the air and letting out a whoop of victory. He wasn't exactly sure what he'd get out of taking Rito flying lessons, but every step helped.

To bring him back down to earth, however, was Zelda, who cried out, "Congratulations, Itaav!" before throwing herself right on him. "You're going to learn to fly!"

He wasn't sure how to react to her at first. Yes, he liked getting hugged by girls. What sane man wouldn't like it when a pretty girl jumped them? But this girl somehow made everything all kinds of weird. Yes, she was very pretty and warm to the touch… but he could feel that ugliness from Bleak in the back of his mind; the ugliness that told him to take advantage of her naiveté… And he wasn't at all sure whether or not to be disturbed by the fact that that train of thought was more appealing than it was appalling. Itaav actually considered it… and the only reason he didn't act on it was because this wasn't the time or place. After deciding upon that, he pried of her off while mumbling in false annoyance, "Alright Clingy, get off."

Zelda chuckled as she backed away, "Sorry; I'm just really happy for you."

"Yes, well, if that's all," the Rito instructor interrupted, now getting impatient, "I have a class to continue on with… unless you would like to try the lessons too, Missy?"

She blushed and shook her head a little bit, mumbling, "Sorry, sir…"

"Come on, Marin," Medli said with soft assurance to the girl, "Let's keep practicing with the lyre until rehearsals, all right?" Zelda bit her lip for a moment and glanced at Itaav.

"Don't worry, Marin," He said with his confident bluster, "I'll be just fine – really. No need to worry, I won't be vanishing again."

Zelda felt a slight blush come to her face as the young Rito in the background began to giggle at his last words, but she ignored them and nodded. "I… I'll see you later then… At night, I mean, because I've got rehearsals with Link and-"

"I _know_, now shoo, shoo!" He said teasingly, waving his hands at her in sweeping motions to send her off.

She blushed a bit more and nodded, turning on her heel perhaps a little faster than was necessary and shuffling off with Medli trailing behind.

* * *

Link could easily say that while he did enjoy watching performances, he didn't like taking part in them. Since he was apparently wasn't the best actor in the world, he had been swept into doing rehearsals with Laruto immediately after his final fitting. He didn't even really have time to change out of the outfit either, so he was stuck in this too warm green tunic, an absolutely ridiculous hat, and pants that were fitted on him more snugly than he'd liked. He was also fairly sure that the uncomfortable outfit wasn't helping his meager acting skills. And honestly, Laruto wasn't making him feel much better either.

Laruto seemed like a nice enough girl, but she would always mumble and keep quiet. She always avoided direct eye contact, but only really with him. In general, she acted quite uncomfortable around him which only made him uncomfortable with her. Link didn't like feeling uncomfortable around people. Granted, in Bleak something was probably wrong with a person if they didn't feel uncomfortable, but anywhere else Link was sure he could get along with just about anybody.

What was even more confusing was that when Laruto was speaking her lines, she didn't mumble. In fact, where Link was supposedly a bad actor, Laruto was very good. She spoke her lines with a passion that almost made Link feel as if maybe he was dealing with the real Princess Ruto… and that was kind of intimidating. Ruto, if the script was anything to go by, was a strong-willed to the point of bossiness kind of woman. So Link really couldn't understand why Laruto could channel _that_ and be so quiet afterward.

After they had just finished a set where Laruto had finally mumbled something along the lines of "… good job…" she suggested a break. Link agreed, though he wasn't quite as relaxed as he would have liked during this break. It wasn't that there were Rito and Zora in the background still hastily putting together sets and making all sorts of raucous noise in the process either, or the sounds of Lulu scolding another one of the actor's to hold still while she worked, or Lulu's boyfriend Mikau messing with the set for sound acoustics, or even that the boxes they were sitting on weren't exactly doing any favors for the butt; it was Laruto sitting nearby, still avoiding eye contact and staying incredibly quiet.

Fed up with all the quiet of it all, he decided to attempt some conversation, even though all previous attempts had failed. However, this time, he thought he had a topic that might be able to get the introverted Zora to speak at least a few words more. "So, Laruto… I know a little bit about the Legend of the Hero of Time, but I've never really heard it from any other point of view but a Hylian's. Do you think you could tell me a bit about the Zora perspective of the story? I mean, if you don't mind, that is…" He said hopefully.

For a moment, he thought she hadn't heard him at all since her gaze was still planted firmly on her finned feet. But then she shyly raised her head for just a moment, her eyes briefly making contact with his before suddenly staring back to the space between her feet. "I… I don't mind…" She mumbled. She shifted in her seat slightly before saying, "Ah, for the Zora it started when… when Ganondorf cursed Jabun, then called Jabu-Jabu… Um, Princess Ruto, she was just a little girl when it had happened; but she was also the only one who really noticed something was wrong… It was her job to feed him, she knew him best at the time…"

Despite the pauses, Link had noticed that her voice was raising to a normal tone very slightly. He wasn't struggling to hear her as much.

"So she actually entered into his belly to see what was wrong, what was paining him… But as she did so, she lost the Spiritual Stone of the Zoras. She had sent out a letter in a bottle, hoping someone from outside of the Zora tribe could perhaps help her to cure Jabun. And someone did come… It was the Hero of Time, then just a child himself. He'd found the note and went to help. And he did help; he saved the Princess Ruto and Jubun from Ganondorf's curse. As a reward, Princess Ruto gave the Hero of Time the Spiritual Stone of the Zoras… also known as the Zora's Engagement Ring."

"Wait, so… The Hero of Time was supposed to marry Princess Ruto?" Link asked somewhat incredulously. It really was a surprise. He couldn't claim to know everything about the Legend of the Hero of Time, but he was pretty sure he'd never heard that before.

Laruto blinked for a moment, but she actually smiled a little as a slight purple blush came upon her face. "Y-yes. Yes, but I don't think the Hero of Time quite knew that – they were both very young, after all… But Princess Ruto… she really loved him. And when the Hero disappeared for seven years, she waited. But in those seven years, Ganondorf had taken over. The Zora had been planning a rebellion against him, but his spies were everywhere. They had been found out, and he trapped them all underneath a sheet of ice, with the exception of Princess Ruto. He didn't know that, of course, but she took it upon herself to save her people since she was the one who first had the idea for rebellion… So she had enetered the Water Temple, and was reunited with the Hero of Time there. After defeating the creature of the Water Temple, Ruto was revealed to be the Sage of Water…"

She had been speaking strongly and clearly for a little bit, but the last sentence had her reverted back to a quiet tone. But to Link, there was something different about this sort of quiet she had went into. It seemed more sad than uncomfortable.

Laruto took a breath and continued, "That was only one of the reasons the Hero and Ruto couldn't be together. There were others, of course, but… I always felt bad for Ruto. She really did love him, even if she was a bit headstrong about it." That seemed lie all there was, though Link had caught something she whispered, probably only to herself and not meant for him, "I think I can sort of relate…"

"Wow, so… so that's the story huh? I mean, from the Zora perspective?" He said, trying to ignore what he'd just heard. Link could admit to being clueless about girls, but he wasn't that clueless. He had an idea of why Laruto was so shy, and it wasn't necessarily because that was just the way that she was. And that idea was really uncomfortable. Itaav had always been the guy that girls pined for, and yeah, a few girls had come up to Link and confessed before but… well, for the most part the girls ended up finding him boring after a first date.

But before Laruto could answer, the peppy voice of Princess Zelda could be heard, "Lin, Laruto, hello!" She happily rushed towards the two, leaving Medli to simply roll her eyes in amusement. But the bird girl did not join, only waving to the other Hylian and Zora before going off to handle some other business with the stage. Zelda then took note of what Link was wearing and said, "Wow, Link! Lulu did such an amazing job – you look exactly like the historical texts describe the Hero of Time to look like! You look so fantastic dressed like him!"

The blond boy blushed a bit, "Ah, thanks, Marin…" He said somewhat shyly. "I actually didn't really like it at first…" he began before cutting himself off. His face reddened a bit further.

Upon seeing that he wasn't going to finish his statement, Zelda gave him a playful pout, "But what? Tell me!" She chirped.

"Nah," Link said, trying to brush it off casually in the way Itaav might try to do. His "nah" came out much shakier and not nearly as smoothly as his friend's would have.

"Pleeeease?" Zelda asked, "You really should finish your sentences, you know."

And as the two continued back and forth, Laruto only watched, feeling like an awkward third wheel. There was a bit of a stab of pain in her heart as the thought that Link had probably forgotten all about her now that Zelda was there. _Perhaps I relate to Ruto even more so than I originally thought…_

* * *

Lookie lookie! I've made some sort of weird love quad-chart that probably could not be explained with any comprehensible geometric figures! ... Um... Yeah. Anyways, this chapter was supposed to be longer but I had to cut if off here. It would have dragged on too long, and as I mulled over my outline, I realized that separating the chapters would be better.

Other comments... Well, over the years, I've noticed how the fandom really tears Ruto apart in OoT when really, she's not truly a delusional Link fangirl. I actually really feel bad for her; I believe she truly did love Link, but I think she kind of always knew it was impossible for a multitude of different reasons. Ruto was bossy, yeah, but she was already used to getting everything she wanted and people doing what she said. I guess that may be why she was so attracted to Link in the first place - he was the first person to see her as... well, just a normal person. Not a princess. She did care in her own way, she just happens to be a very pushy person. So I kind of incorporated my feelings on that into Laruto's story there._  
_

Oh yeah, also, Zelda winning that ocarina... Well, that's just a call out to OoT and Zelda's freakishly strong arm. XD

**TheWindMage**, your welcome? I'm glad you're enjoying.

**fleets**, thanks! And it has, hasn't it? Or more specifically people just don't know how to characterize him properly... Sigh... Bah, I could never leave a story for dead! I hate it when people do that, why would I subject that to anyone else? And I am? That's good... I worry, though, cuz things are just going to get more convoluted. What on earth am I doing to myself? D: As for a clear pairing by the end of the story, well... there might be a clear pairing, there might not be. I guess I am going to troll. Hehe... And yeah, Niko sure does. :) Aaaaaaaah, if you weren't around I probably still wouldn't be here on FFN! And that is the truth!

**Gojira Geek**, updated. :)

**CorynOfHoole**, yeah, I try to switch up the characters every now and again, I just worried that Blind and co may have been a bit too soon. But I'm glad I went through it. Glad you thought it was a good idea too. :)

**Amychama248**, I have said it before and I will say it again: unless explicitly stated by myself here on FFN via chapter update, I will never give up this or any story I am working on. To just stop without warning would be a dick move. I hate it when it happens to stories I follow, I would not subject it to my readers. As for this story mostly complete... Pfft, it is not even close to being complete. We're currently a little over 20 chapters in... this story is projected to be over 70 chapters. Yeah, it's a doozy. XD Hopefully you'll continue to stick around for that long?

**Ksv12**, hopefully this update didn't come too late for you this time. XD Well, thank you. I do love to experiment with all sorts of pairings, and I do love the dynamics of VaatiZelda. Just be aware that just because it's my preference does not necessairly mean that will be the final pairing of the story... that doesn't mean it won't be either, but what it shall be, currently only two people in the world aside from myself know. One of which left the fandom, and the other which was never in the fandom to begin with. Soo... pretty much only me at this point. XD Regarding the last guess, the world will know... The chapter after next.


	25. Firsts

Bonjour my Bodacious Babes! Sorry for the delay, guys. If you've been keeping up with my DA, then you'll know I arrived back from Japan and then promptly had some horrible medical issues to go through - that had nothing to do with Japan, mind you. Kiddies, just know this - it is super, super important that when you are on flights that are longer than 3 hours, it's very important to GET UP AND WALK AROUND every now again. Yeah, they talk about blood clots in your legs, but they never mention pilonidal cysts. And trust me, those are _terrible_. Erm, aside from that, I had costumes to work on for myself and a friend a con to attend, and a return to my day job. Now that things have calmed down, I can proudly present to you the next chapter in this story.

As per usual, it hasn't been checked over for mistakes - the more grievous ones will be taken care of later.

* * *

In the days that followed, Link found himself more exhausted than if he had done triple shifts of Scaling on _the Pride_. Plays had more work behind them than he ever could have imagined; the whole cast had to rehearse every day and every night, even those with minimal roles. And despite that, Link still spent no time at all with Zelda except when they rehearsed their small scenes together. For the most part, Link was always rehearsing with Laruto, who was very much a perfectionist. In fact, he was surprised to see her becoming more aggressive during rehearsals, insisting more and more often that he had to keep rehearsing until he had it just right. He was fairly certain that the irritation he'd felt wasn't just from the exhaustion, and he wondered if Laruto was behaving this way because of her crush on him.

During the early dinner break, when all of the cast and tech crew were allowed to leave the makeshift "playhouse" (it was really just a tented off section of the island that was barred from public access until the night of performances) and eat and enjoy free time for about two hours, Link had finally managed to spend some time with Zelda. Granted, the time was mostly spent in the crowded festival food boardwalk, but it was quality time nonetheless. The princess had been ecstatic about the performances and the rehearsal, stating that she'd never worked so hard in her life. Link had to grudgingly agree with that, but he was honestly getting really fed up as opposed to Zelda's excitement.

"Marin, please…" Link finally begged, "You have to ask Laruto to cut me some slack. She keeps me around much later than everyone else and I'm… I'm _sick_ of it."

"Link, she just wants everything to be perfect – it's her first time playing Ruto, you know. She's nervous," Zelda reasonably pointed out as she took a bite out of her takoyaki (recommended by Pennysworth).

Inwardly Link screamed that he was kept so long because Laruto had a thing for him, not that anything was wrong. Instead, he just said, calmly but with some degree of frustration as he fiddled with his own takoyaki, "The director thinks I'm doing just fine."

"Well, then, tell Laruto you don't think you need the extra practice."

"She thinks I do." He said with a short growl as he stabbed the takoyaki with his fork bitterly.

The princess sighed. "Link, remember what this play means to the Zora. They seem to be so happy to have a Hylian playing the Hero of Time. Laruto just wants to make sure you make the best impression, I'm positive of it. She's only trying to help."

"But I'm _fine_," Link whined.

"Then _tell_ her so," Zelda said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Link grumbled. Zelda just didn't understand how awkward that would be. She was so sheltered, she didn't seem to notice what everyone else had already picked up on.

Still, he had to admit she was right. Nothing would change if he didn't say anything… And he had really hoped that he would be able to spend some more time with Zelda before the actual play had begun. He couldn't even do that, though, and the plays were set to start in two days. He had been trying to spare Laruto's feelings but he wanted some time away from the stupid playhouse. "… You're right," he finally said.

Zelda beamed at that statement, which only strengthened his resolve to confront Laruto. He wanted to see more of Zelda, to see her beam and smile and laugh more often. Link had only been around her for a short time, and most of the time he had seen her in a façade of happiness or in a state of grief. He wanted to see more of this happy Zelda while they had this short reprieve from being hunted by demons or fighting off disturbed crime lords.

The rest of their dinner break was filled with Zelda's voice chattering away about all the things she was excited about and some mention of what Itaav had been up to. The two boys hadn't had much interaction since their "talk" and neither of them were going out of their way to remedy that. Link had to admit he was wondering how the Engineer was coming along with flying lessons, though. While he didn't doubt Zelda's word that Itaav could fly, he just wondered how on earth Rito flying could translate into whatever Itaav had managed to do.

The break seemed all too short before they had returned to the stage. After general rehearsals with Zelda, the princess was dismissed for the night as well as some of the other lesser actors. Zelda quickly went up to Link and wished him luck with Laruto before heading off, giving him an almost worrying glance as she neared the exit.

And Zelda really was worried for him. Link had been doing so much, even before she'd volunteered them for the play… Which she was really feeling bad about now. What had she been thinking when she had just suddenly said they were completely fine with taking part in the play? There were so many things to be worrying about; taking part in a play like this just seemed so frivolous. She had supposed she had just been so caught up in the excitement and so ready forget all the horrible things that had been happening, as well as getting the chance to act like a commoner and do actual work. _Well, too late now, Zelda._ She thought to herself. _Besides, this really is a good thing, you have to stop being such a worrywart._

With the sun just having set as she left, she wandered towards the balcony where Itaav attended the flight classes with the Fledglings. On the way up the stairs, some of the Fledglings were scurrying down the stairs, chattering about something or another while Zelda merely waved at them. Up at the top of the balcony, she could see Itaav speaking with the instructor about something as well as the rest of the Fledglings getting ready to leave. Zelda didn't approach, simply staying by the stairs until Itaav was finished discussing whatever business he had with the instructor.

She didn't have to wait long. Itaav finished his conversation and then took note of Zelda. He walked over with a careless smile, and Zelda smiled back. "So how was it today?" She asked him.

He shrugged and said, "No actual flying for me, though some of the more ambitious kids managed to get some air today. I am seeing the way they catch the air, though – I'm figuring out these airflow mechanics, I just have to figure out how I can warp them to fit my needs. I've got an idea but I'm not about to test it out until I'm positive I won't kill myself." There was that edge to his voice that said he was getting really excited about what was brewing in his brain. But he kept the specifics to himself, and instead focused on Zelda. "Anyways, how were your rehearsals today? Link staying late again?"

"My rehearsals were just fine but Link does have to stay late again… I feel really bad about it. He asked me to talk to Laruto for him, and now I'm wondering if maybe I should have…" She explained, glancing towards the general direction of the makeshift playhouse as she twiddled her thumbs uncertainly.

"Heh, he'll be just fine." Itaav said, amusement plain his voice. He chuckled some more, to Zelda's confusion, and upon seeing that she didn't get his train of thought, all he said was, "Just wondering how it would work."

"How what would work?" The princess was utterly befuddled.

But this time Itaav didn't answer, instead continuing his little chucklefest while leaving the girl sill just as confused.

* * *

It was late into the night, and Link was more than fed up with being at the playhouse. He and Laruto weren't the only ones present there, as there were several other actors and stagehands setting things up for the ever nearing day of performances, but Link was more than sure he and Laruto were just fine with their lines.

"Laruto," he began, scrambling up his courage, "I need to…"

The girl, who had been looking at her script, lifted her big black eyes to look at him. She pursed her pale lips, a worrisome look upon her humanoid face. The look was enough to cut Link off, as he found himself suddenly feeling rather guilty. "You need to… to talk to me…" She said quietly.

"Uh, yeah," he managed to say awkwardly. But he quickly regained his composure and saw that a couple of the stagehands had their eyes right on him and Laruto. The last thing he wanted to do was make a scene. "Is there any place a bit more private…?"

The fishy girl seemed a bit dismayed but nodded and began to walk away. He followed her to the director, where she mentioned in her muted voice that she and Link were going to step out for a few minutes, and then she led the way out of the playhouse. They didn't walk too far from there, Laruto simply leading the way to the nearest balcony. Wordlessly, she stood by the rail and gazed out at the dark ocean. Link wasn't sure how to reignite the conversation.

"You… you want to tell me you don't need the extra practice." She said softly, restarting their exchange.

Still feeling a bit awkward, he managed, "Well, yeah. I don't. The director says I'm doing well enough; and I'd like to enjoy the festival a bit-"

"You want to spend time with Marin." She said. Something in her voice sounded incredibly sad.

Link, however, was feeling quite paranoid at the statement, "Yeah but I want to spend some time with Itaav too, they're both my friends-"

"You love that Marin girl, don't you?"

"_What_?" He blurted out, his face reddening to tomato red proportions. "Of c-course I don't! I've just met her, I mean, I do _like_ her but-"

"Link, you don't have to lie."

"B-but I'm not!" He stammered.

Laruto turned in place, staring at Link with large, sad eyes. "I like you. I mean, I _really_ like you." Could this night be any more embarrassing? He wasn't sure how he could keep his face from heating anymore. But before he could find anything to say to that, Laruto went on, "And I know you don't feel the same way. Even though you say you don't like Marin in that way, I know you do and… And I can't compete with that. I know even you did feel the same way, it wouldn't work. I mean, I'm a Zora, you're Hylian…"

"… Yeah…" Link said rather blankly. She anticipated what exactly he'd wanted to talk to her about and… it was like she had been preparing for this moment but had hoped that it wouldn't happen. And he really wished he hadn't thought of it like that because it was making him feel _terrible_.

But Laruto, having finally found her courage, wasn't done. She stepped closer to him, not fidgeting nor showing any signs of her earlier skittishness. "I… I'm sorry."

That threw him off, "Huh? What why? If anything, _I'm_ sorry!"

The Zora girl's brow knitted, "Why?"

"Huh? What do you mean why? I… I don't feel the same way." He said confusedly.

"But that's not something to be sorry about – it's just what it is," Laruto gave him a small, sad smile, "I mean… yes, it does hurt, but you shouldn't be sorry about it. Especially since I've been keeping you away from your friends… it's not right. I want to apologize for it; I don't know what I was thinking."

"You were just thinking with your heart, I guess." Link said absently. After all of the shyness and the quietness, here he was having a normal conversation with Laruto… while he was rejecting her. He was very confused. Even more so when the Zora girl chuckled a bit at his statement.

"I guess I was," she said, sounding sad but still strong. "I'm sorry, Link; I'll leave you be in just a second, but I would like to give you something, if I may?"

He blinked, totally unsure of what was going on. "Um, sure?"

She smiled – a real smile, not one of the nervous ones he was so used to seeing on her or the sad one that she'd given him earlier. "Thank you. Could you please close your eyes? I'd like it to be a surprise."

Ah, that was it. He was so sure of it. He was going to close his eyes and then she would slap him, or kick him or something. But as far as he was concerned, he deserved it. Here she was being so strong but he was so sure he'd just shattered her heart. Any punishment she wanted to dish out, Link was certain he deserved it. So he nodded and closed his eyes, inwardly bracing himself for the worst.

But there was no pain.

Only the soft touch of cold lips upon his warm ones before a quick release and hearing Laruto's steps quickly heading off. He opened his eyes just in time to see the girl's finned head turn the corner and disappear. If he had no idea what to make of things before, he was at a complete loss at that very moment. His fingers brushed his lips lightly, and then he finally took it all in with a blush.

Laruto had given him his first kiss.

* * *

"So… big day now," Itaav had commented to Link on the day of the play as they were in the dining hall of the inn. Zelda apparently hadn't woken up yet, leaving only the two boys and the other patrons that kept to themselves in the hall.

"Yup," Link mumbled.

But Itaav sniggered, "Maybe Laruto will come over and give you something for luck."

Link's face reddened. "Shut up," he growled embarrassedly.

Yet the pale boy continued his chortling, and Link began to wonder why he had told Itaav in the first place. Probably because he had still been in a state of disbelief by the time he'd returned to the inn and Itaav was still awake, doodling something or another on a scrap of paper in the lobby. Not that Link would have told Zelda if she had been the one awake – there was absolutely no way he could tell her about _that_. He wasn't sure _why_, but he couldn't.

"You do know the only reason I keep bringing it up is because your reaction is ridiculous right?" Itaav said through a mouthful of scrambled seagull eggs.

"How is it ridiculous? It's a big deal!" Link replied.

The paler boy rolled his eyes, "Yeah, because I really reacted this way when I had my first kiss."

"Actually, you reacted worse," Link pointed out, "Because when that girl, Din, went and kissed you her ex-boyfriend, Onox, saw it and was chasing you around for a whole week!"

Itaav's face went a little red, "Well, does Laruto have any muscle head ex-boyfriends with temper issues?"

"… No but-"

"But nothing, you're just damn fine; now shut up and eat something that way when you throw up on stage later you're not dry heaving." Itaav snapped, violently stabbing a sausage.

"Your confidence in me is inspiring." Link drawled, not listening and simply messing with the food on his plate. "So, flying? How's that going?"

That was enough to get Itaav back into a less scowly mood. With his old smile of excitement back on, he went into blabber mode. "I think I've managed to figure out how I can get some loft. See, the Rito have wings, so it's easier for them to get loft. Like all birds and critters of flight, they pick up on updrafts or flap their wings to gain height. I can't do that because… well, I don't have wings or hollow bones. So I've been trying to figure out how I can apply my lack of wings with what I've been learning from observing the lessons. It all comes down to updrafts; the tricky part's figuring out how I can do that without wings; I've come up with two options-"

"Oooooh, what are they? This is so exciting!"

Itaav and Link turned their heads blankly to see Zelda, face beaming in anticipation at Itaav, whom she decided to sit next to. Neither boy was quite sure when she'd taken a seat; Link hadn't even really been paying attention to his friend's words, but admittedly had zoned out halfway through. Itaav was just very quick to get over any puzzlement to continue on with his rambling. "Just getting to that," he continued.

"First option I came up with was when I revisited the incident at the Dancing Cat. All hell broke loose when I made the tornado – and that was really tough because for that, I had to do the opposite of what true tornadoes do. In fact, it wasn't even a real tornado, because tornadoes form from the ground up, while the one I made came from the outside, the air flowing from the top down into a needlepoint, so to speak. But upon remembering a true tornado flows up, I came up with the idea that it could work like an instant updraft. The problem with that, though, is that tornadoes are insanely hard to control. All my attention would be focused on maintain the center where I could retain some loft. Not to mention all the space that would take up, the magic it would take to maintain, all the things that could go wrong-"

"It could even change weather patterns, couldn't it?" Zelda asked.

Itaav paused for a moment to consider that statement, and with a look that said he was mildly surprised but just as impressed, answered, "Yeah; didn't consider that bit, but you're right. Heck, really that option's an accident waiting to happen…"

"So… what are you going to do, then?" Link asked, his tone saying he wasn't really too interested, but he certainly didn't want to get back into the subject matter of Laruto in Zelda's presence. Just the remembrance of it made him want to blush again.

"I wasn't sure, at first, but I think I've managed to come up with something. Sort of like… like a top, I guess. But not really. Ah, I kind of wish I had a pencil… Oh well. The best way to explain it is more like a ball of constantly moving air; and the key would be to somehow balance myself on this ball in order to get loft. The downside to this plan is that involves way more focus, probably more magic usage too – price of control, I guess." Itaav explained.

Zelda grinned broadly and excitedly, "That's so fascinating Itaav! You'll be flying in no time, I'm sure!"

The Magic Engineer looked a lot like a bird whose feathers had just been primped and preened, "Yeah… And maybe next time I fly, I can take you along without having to worry about any Gorons rolling us over."

Link, who had been half paying attention, perked up at his friend's last sentence in alarm. Zelda chuckled, saying, "That sounds like it would be a much more enjoyable flight." And Itaav merely smiled back, glancing at Link and giving him a wink. Link kept himself from standing up and clocking Itaav right then and there. It was nothing. Itaav was just doing some friendly flirting with Zelda, was all. It was nothing. _He just knows it'll get on my nerves._

_"You love that Marin girl, don't you?"_

Link stood up suddenly, as if Laruto had been directly behind him and whispered the sentence. But she wasn't, of course. And the situation only got more awkward as Itaav and Zelda just stared at Link, who looked as if a monkey had just jumped on his back and called him mama.

"You all right there?" Itaav asked warily.

"Yeah, fine." He said too quickly to be convincing.

"You look rather pale…" Zelda pointed out quietly, adding, "Are you nervous about the play?"

"Y-yeah…" He stuttered unsurely. He figured it was better than mentioning Laruto or her words to him that one night. And now Link couldn't help but wonder how true the Zora girl's words had been. "Um, anyways… I think I'm going to head to rehearsals early." He finally blurted out before unceremoniously leaving.

Zelda stood up quickly, crying out, "Wait, you didn't finish your breakfast!" But Link had already cleared out of the dining hall before she even finished her sentence. Dismayed and worried, she sat back down and mumbled, "I hope he's all right…"

"He's _fine_," Itaav reassured, taking what was on Link's plate and adding it to his own. "He's just going through a few things and being a bit awkward about it."

"Things?" Zelda asked, "What kind of things?"

Itaav paused for a moment, and finally shrugged and said plainly, "He's having girl troubles."

"Girl troubles…?" Had girls been mean to him? She doubted it, seeing as most girls on Dragonroost seemed to fawn over him all of the time. Maybe it was the fawning that was troubling him? Or perhaps… "Oh my goodness, Itaav! Do you think Link likes a girl here on Dragonroost?" She asked, shocked.

It was taking all of the purple haired boy's willpower not to burst out into laughter. Zelda was so completely _clueless_. Sometimes it was incredibly annoying, but at this moment it was just the most entertaining thing he'd come across. "You could say that," he finally managed to say, still attempting to keep his laughter on the inside.

The princess seemed to be completely dumbfounded. Taking a small, dainty bite of her eggs, she looked as if she'd stumbled into one of the most serious and dire situations she had ever faced. And for a moment, Itaav wondered if perhaps Zelda was jealous at the prospect that maybe another girl was calling the Scaler's attentions. It wasn't a thought that necessarily bothered him. If Zelda liked Link back, he didn't really care… yet at the same time, he viewed Link as troublesome because of that.

_A bit convoluted._ He told himself inwardly.

But the Thoughts In the Back of His Head replied, _I'm looking into it too much; it's all really quite simple._

And it was at that moment that Itaav felt that he really should stop consulting the Thoughts In the Back of His Head. Because they were reminding him far too much of thoughts he'd had the night of the _Helmaroc_'s untimely passing. Thoughts that involved copious amounts of violence and rage. "So, uh, what time's the play you two are in going to start?" Itaav asked quickly, trying to forget.

"Huh? Oh… Um, it starts at four, I think." And then she brightened up, "You'll be there, right? To see us?"

Itaav's expression flattened. "I wouldn't be asking what time it was at if I wasn't going."

The blond girl chuckled, slightly embarrassed, "Yes, I suppose that's true… Oh, and you'll get to see us in our costumes! You should see Link's costume, it fits him so well!"

After all that time Lulu spent tracking Link down throughout the past week, he certainly hoped it would fit Link well, though he knew that wasn't what Zelda really meant. Still, Itaav did look forward to seeing it, if only because Link seemed to dread wearing it.

* * *

After Zelda left, Itaav was left to his own devices until Zelda and Link's little play started. The only thing on his "to-do" list for the day was the last day of flying lessons, and he'd honestly been hoping to get the hang of flight soon. Most of the fledges had managed to get loft and could sloppily fly, and it'd been his great hope to show those brats up. After all, he wasn't exactly going to be around to take the next session of lessons, and he would not be viewed as that "lying Hylian who said he could fly – what an idiot!" Oh no, he would not be seen as that _at all_.

As he continued to mull over in his head the way he'd have to fold the air over itself to maintain the ball of air that would give him his loft, he ascended the stairs to where the lessons usually took place. To his surprise, the regular students and the teacher weren't the only ones there. There was the addition of one other: the wayward prince from the other day, Komali. The students had been huddled around the young prince, excitedly jabbering nonsense. But upon noticing the arrival of the only non-Rito of the class, the prince shooed the children away and started forward towards him.

Itaav couldn't read the expression on the bird boy's face. Komali had one of those political smiles on, though something in the eyes told the Engineer that this wasn't a political visit.

"Mr. Nibs," Itaav acknowledged, crossing his arms as Komali paused before him.

The prince of the Rito dropped his political smile and frowned at the name, but didn't reprimand. Instead, he went on to say while avoiding any direct eye contact, "So, I tried the whole responsibility thing…"

"And?"

Komali grumbled something and then replied, "It looks like I owe you and that Hylian girl an apology… I've… I've been going to rehearsals. I've never seen Medli smile so much in my life."

"Great." The pale boy said with false cheer before dropping back into his tone of general not caring, "Now, if you don't mind, I've got some kids to put to shame."

He made to step around the prince, but Komali quickly said, "I never realized that I'd hurt her so much by acting the way I did. How did you know that… that taking responsibility was the right thing to do?"

Itaav smirked at that. A string of failed relationships followed the Engineer, and for good reason. And he'd always known what the reason was, why those relationships failed. "Because it's the one thing I've never done." And with a proud swagger in his step, he walked around the prince and joined the rest of class.

"Hey, what did the prince want to say to you?"

"Did you offend him somehow?"

"Are you friends with him?"

Itaav gave them all an insincere grin and said, "None of your business, twerps. Now if you'll give me some space, I've got some magic to make."

The fledges, as well as the teacher, didn't quite understand what Itaav had meant until a swirl of wind came between the Hylian and the Rito, forcing the bird folk to take a few steps back as Itaav focused all of his concentration on the wind he had summoned. He'd never tried to make a sphere of wind before, and certainly not on the scale he needed for this to be possible. He'd had it all down in theory but in practice proved another thing entirely. It was like trying to mold a ball out of incredibly dry clay – the air simply didn't want to be confined into a ball, especially not when traveling at such a high speed. But for this crazy idea to work, it had to be done.

Waving his arms around slowly, crushing the air with raw metaphysical energy – it was exhausting, but he pushed through for who knows how long until the winds died down with some measure of protest as they condensed into an air sphere that reached up to his shins. His lavender hair fell lank right over his face, the goggles resting on top of his head adjusting the length of the hair so that the tips of his hair threatened to poke his eyes into epic levels of irritation. But he didn't dare brush it aside until he was sure the crushing motion of his hands wouldn't be necessary to maintain the shape of the sphere.

When he was confident that it was okay, he relaxed himself, but braced himself in case the sphere were to fall apart. It didn't, and it was only then that he dared managed to look away from the sphere at the Rito, whose eyes were as wide as saucers. Itaav, thoroughly exhausted, weakly smiled before facing the air sphere again.

It was time for the really tricky part now: getting on it without throwing himself off the balcony. There was no way to gingerly step on something like this. That was just asking for an untimely death by belly flop into the ocean. He just needed to hop on, both feet at the same time, close together – try to stay on the toes. A certain amount of magic might be needed for that, and he could already feel a massive headache coming on that was protesting that thought profusely. _Ah screw it._

He hopped, ignoring the sharp intakes of breath from the Rito. But instead of just landing right on the sphere, he hovered for a moment over it, lowering slowly. Gingerly, the tips of his boots touched the top of the ball. His legs nearly went opposite directions, but a secondary hop and a balancing act later that nearly involved him flying off, falling off, and spinning around like a top. After the aforementioned top incident, though, he managed to come to a pause on top of the sphere.

It was complete and utter silence as Itaav managed to fully stand up on the ball of air and give a goofy, yet still somehow prideful, smile to the Rito teacher and his students. And just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, that this was really happening, he increased the speed on the air sphere… and obtained two inches of loft. In a moment of exhilarated excitement, Itaav shouted with glee and threw up both of his arms. But with his focus lost in all the excitement, the air sphere dispelled and the Engineer ungracefully tumbled onto the floor awkwardly. His face on the floor and his behind up in the air, all he could muster was a muffled, "Yaaaay…"

* * *

So yeah, after having some first hand experience with the theater business, I have to tell you it's pretty miserable. I won't go into too much detail, suffice it to say there's a reason theater people tend to only be friends with theater people. They don't have tie to interact with anyone else. Luckily, since these folks in the story, they can get a few more liberties.

So yeah, stuff happened here. Tell me all the traits of Vaati you can pinpoint on Itaav here. TELL ME. Whoever can get them all gets a big old internet cookie. Oh yeah, also, Itaav's method of flight I take absolutely no credit for. That goes to the folks who made Avatar: The Last Airbender. In figuring out how Itaav was going to fly, I found that the Air Top was the best way I could think of... sort of. You'll see next chapter, but the Air Top I found was the best basis for an actual humanoid being to fly.

I had originally planned to get into the play in this chapter but DIDN'T HAPPEN. Again, would've resulted in a too long chapter. So this is a developmental filler chapter... sorta. I'm just making things up at this point. THERE SHALL BE TRUE PROGRESSION NEXT UPDATE.

**fleets**, um, sort of playing nice, I suppose? XD And the plays will be next chapter, and I'm soooo looking forward to next chapter!

**Gojira Geek**, an update. :3

**Swamp Dragon Princess**, yaaaaay, thank you! I really am working hard on this, so it makes me happy to hear things like this! X3 Also, not a plot hole, you got me worried there for a sec. That all has to do with perception. Link views it as them being kids doing stupid things. Itaav had originally been trying to kill Link, that was no lie. But after being saved by Link and opening himself up to the possibility of a friendship with him, Itaav isn't about to say "Oh I was actually trying to kill you but let's be friends." And even if he had, a younger Link might have thought it was a joke. Again, it's all about how different characters perceive the same situation. And sorry to say, but I don't believe Dark Link will be making an appearance (unless something suddenly changes). This has mostly to do with the fact that... Dark Link as a character is... difficult. Because there is no official personality him aside from what the fandom has established, and I don't write fanfiction based on fan perceptions, it's difficult to write him without saying, "Screw it, I'm just making an OC." Sorry. D:

**deku**, hehe, I wouldn't say it's a dark side...


	26. End of a Performance

Chyello my Cool Cats! I have another update for you! Seeeee! SEEEEEE. I do care. I've been pretty inspired lately.

UM, there may be mistakes. I'm sorry.

* * *

This was it. The play would be starting in a few minutes. Zelda's stomach felt like it was twisted into all sorts of knots; she couldn't remember being so nervous since the first time she played the lyre for her father so many years ago. Yet at the same time, she was also excited and terrified all at once. It was an odd mixture of all sorts of feelings she'd never felt altogether. Medli had coached her on how to handle the anxiety earlier, and she was already putting those deep breathing exercises into practice. She focused on what she needed to do, trying to avoid any imaginative thoughts of mistakes or stage fright.

The first scene was all Link, where she would join him shortly for her only part in the play. Then she would use the smoke bomb that effects had provided her with to vanish off of the stage. Her plan from there was to drop off the large cloak that would serve as her costume backstage, and then join the crowd to watch the rest of the play.

She heard the thrum of Mikau's guitar; the dull roar from the audience quieted down.

It was really starting now…

From stage right she watched as the spotlight honed in on the figure in the middle of stage: it was Medli, performing as the narrator to this show.

"Welcome one and all as you come to view a legend come to life," the Rito girl began with a bow to the audience. "Before your eyes you shall see a piece of the Legend of the Hero of Time and how he came to the aid of our shared ancestors centuries ago; of the trials he faced and how he came to save our people from the hands evil…" She continued as she edged off to the side, exiting stage right.

Zelda moved aside for the Rito girl, who came off the stage with a sigh of relief and a vervous smile to the princess. "Break a leg," she whispered excitedly to the blond girl before scurrying off to help ready other pieces of the play. Zelda nodded gratefullt at Medli before she had left, really glad that Medli hadn't truly meant it. It came to Zelda as the biggest surprise that it was bad luck to say good luck at a play, and while she didn't understand why "break a leg" meant good luck, she still appreciated the sentiment.

She shuffled nervously in the cloak that was her costume for Sheik, her very own ancestor. How strange it was to be filling these shoes, she had thought, but fitting. The princess really hoped she could accurately portray the disguised Zelda of old well – at the very least she certainly hoped she wouldn't make a fool of herself. _I can't imagine what Itaav might say_, she thought with a grimace. He may have been nicer lately, but he was terribly fond of poking fun at her and Link, she knew. And then she wondered if the boy was even out there like he promised. _Well, of course he is;_ she reassured herself, _He'll no doubt want to poke fun at Link for his costume._

And that was true enough; it was probably the only reason Itaav was in the crowd at the moment. While he may have achieved flight (sort of) that day and was a sort of fascination with both Rito and Zora now, it had been exhausting. Yeah, Komali may have treated him to a free lunch after his "flight" but what he really could have gone for was a seven hour nap. But he wanted to see Link in that ridiculous outfit, and he supposed that he did kind of, sort of, not really promise Zelda that he would be there. Granted, there were only like ten rows of seats, and by the time Itaav had gotten there it was standing room only.

Itaav saw the bird girl up on stage, doing the introduction to the play. Even though it wasn't a particularly long introduction, he was mentally rushing her to get on with it. He wanted to get his cheap laughs out already. But when Medli left the stage, the imitation of a Wolfos's howl came about, and Link came out with the prop sword and began to play-slash at the actor in the Wolfos costume, Itaav did not laugh.

In fact, the Engineer at first thought there was something severely wrong with his vision when he saw _four_ of Link, each in a different color of the ridiculously warm outfit that the blond boy had complained about earlier. Itaav rubbed his eyes vigorously, looking up on stage this time to see only one Link. The exhaustion had to be creeping up on him again… because now he was significantly crankier after that instance of seeing quadruple.

He tried to cheer himself up by remembering Link was wearing something stupid. The tunic he was wearing practically made him look like he was wearing a skirt; and white _tights_. Yeah, sure they tried to pass them off as pants, but they were way tighter than they should ever be on a guy. And that hat had to be the stupidest-

_"My curses are not to be mocked. The one I cast on you is most powerful. No matter what power you wield, you will never break it." It was his voice, laced with malicious amusement, as he spoke to Link… no… Link was there but he wasn't talking to him… he was talking to… to the hat. Yes, the tip of the hat looked like a bird of some sort._

_But the bird-hat scoffed at him. "You haven't changed in the slightest. I never should have created that cap." The hat spat; but despite the harshness, there was regret in that voice. And disappointment. "It only fueld your insane desires…"_

_Rage. He felt rage. How dare that old man speak to him in such a manner-_

A voice then broke through whatever it was he had been seeing, "If you came here to see the Zoras, you wasted your time," it was Zelda, doing her little part in the play and failing to make her voice sound masculine. He focused his gaze on her; how she was hidden beneath a flowing cape, her face hooded and her hair styled so it covered her eyes ever so slightly. "With one exception, the Zoras are now sealed under this thick ice sheet... I managed to rescue the water princess from under the ice, but... she left to head for the Water Temple... This ice is created by an evil curse... The monster in the Water Temple is the source of the curse. Unless you shut off the source, this ice will never melt... If you have courage enough to confront the danger and save the Zoras, I will teach you the melody that leads to the temple."

She pulled a lyre from under her cloak and began to play it, and Link followed along with the very ocarina Zelda had won the other day at the festival. But he did not focus on Link or his atrocious playing; he focused on Zelda. She was the only thing that was keeping him from wondering what the hell it was he had just seen. If he focused on her, he didn't think about that weird talking hat and how it sounded like that old man he'd briefly seen when he'd overheard Anjean and Byrne; he didn't think about how Link was bearing a sword up against him; or how he, himself, had been speaking in such eloquent words. It was keeping him from thinking about he'd hallucinated that there were three more Links and had just seen things in his head that he was fairly certain he never experienced even in dreams.

Right now, at this very moment, Zelda was the only thing keeping him from absolutely _panicking_. Because something was wrong with him – so very, _very_ wrong.

Zelda had finished playing her song, bid Link farewell, and vanished in a plume of smoke. For a moment, Itaav felt his panic rise; he could already feel those questions resurfacing, taking a prime focus in his mind. And then he heard a soft voice pushing itself through the crowd, "Excuse me; sorry – excuse me…"

He looked to where people were moving about uncomfortably, seeing Zelda sans costume pushing her way through and giving him a cheerful smile when she caught sight of him. But she frowned quickly after a moment and then rushed through the remaining people between them, immediately a hand upon the purple haired boy's forehead. "Oh Itaav, you don't look well now… How are you feeling?"

_Strangely aroused_, he confessed within his mind. Despite the fact that Zelda had been the one to reel him back into reality, now that she was here next to him… Well, there were no more thoughts of that weird hallucination, but now various ideas were popping up in his mind all concerning her. _So trusting, this naïve little princess_, the Thoughts in the Back of His Head purred. And he tried not to think how it sounded so close to the speech he'd had when he had his hallucination.

"Itaav?" Zelda asked, noting that the boy seemed to look an unhealthy shade of pale ather than his normal self.

_Get it together, Itaav._ He scolded himself inwardly. He was just tired. This was exactly what it was like at Anjean and Byrne's place – he was tired, he was seeing and hearing crazy things. He brushed her hand off of his head and said carelessly, "I'm fine, I'm fine; just tired, though now's not the time to get into that. Link's trying to play the ocarina again."

* * *

The play, as far as Link could tell, was a success. There was applause and cheers, Laruto seemed ecstatic and thanked him profusely for a good job, and Medli was jabbering on enthusiastically told him to give "Marin" a big thank you for her work too. Unfortunately for Link, Lulu insisted he keep wearing the costume for the rest of the still darkening night. And "insist" really meant demand. Rather than argue about it, he just went with it. It was just one night after all and he would never have to see that horrible outfit ever again.

When he was finally granted freedom, he found Zelda with Itaav. The two had drifted away from the "playhouse" since it being prepared for the Founding Play, and were now outside by one of the balconies still crowded with plenty of Rito and Zora. He gave some nervous thanks to those that congratulated him on a job well done as he approached his friends, and was more than relieved when he managed to make it to them without much issue. He took note that the Engineer looked a bit… off, though he couldn't place what. He didn't really have a chance to think about it either as Zelda went and jumped him with a great big hug. "Oh Link, you were great! It was like you were the Hero of Time, himself!" She slipped off him and gave him another big grin, "Are they letting you keep the costume? I really do think it suits you!"

"No, no, no," Link said shaking his head emphatically, "Noooo, Lulu just wants me to keep it on for the rest of the night. There is _no_ way I'm keeping this."

Zelda pouted, but conceded, "I suppose it is a bit warm."

"And you were right, it does look stupid," Itaav put in carelessly, but Link couldn't help but notice that something in the pale boy seemed strained. However, he brightened up when he remembered something, "Oh yeah, and guess who managed to obain lift off today?"

"You flew today?!" Zelda gasped.

Itaav smiled proudly. "Yeah, sort of."

"Wait, wait… You really did it?" Link asked, "You really flew?"

"Yup. Sort of. Two inches off of the ground, but that's certainly more than I ever thought I could before! It'll be even easier from here on out now that I know it wasn't a fluke!" He began excitedly.

"Oh, Itaav, crongratulations! You'll have to show us later!" Zelda said, this time jumping on Itaav to give him a great big hug.

The pale boy hadn't really expected the hug, though he was beginning to suspect the girl was very huggy. Whatever the case, he gave Link a very satisfied look, to which the other boy returned with a scowl and a red face.

"Oh, there you all are!" Cried Medli as she fought her way through a couple of Zoras who had been standing nearby them.

"Oh, Medli; don't you have to get ready for the Founding Play?" Zelda asked.

"Yes, but I just wanted to thank all three of you together! Link, for that amazing job as the Hero of Time, Marin as a wonderful Sheik… And Marin, you get double thanks along with Itaav for Komali. He told me all about how you two inspired him to take resposbility, and… I can't thank you enough for that. I never thought I'd see the day!" Medli said with a grateful bow. But Link couldn't help but look at the girl and boy beside him and wonder when the heck they'd spoken with Komali. "And in order to thank the three of you for everything, I wanted to give you guys prime seats for the Founding Play! They're right in the third row; the usher will lead you there no problems."

Zelda's eyes were wide as saucers, "Really?!"

Still smiling widely, Medli nodded, "Yep! You guys can take your seats in around half an hour – I gotta go now, so I'll see you all later!"

"Wow," Link commented, "I guess she really likes all of us…"

"What's not to like?" Itaav said, adding, "By the way, she's in the next one?"

Zelda, her smile so wide her cheeks were beginning to hurt, nodded, "Yes! She's going to play the first female Rito that evolved from one of Valoo's scales! And Komali is going to be the first male Rito; she was so worried he'd do badly, but she seems so happy! We really did help out, didn't we, Itaav?"

Itaav shrugged, though Link couldn't help but look back and forth from his friend to Zelda. He really felt like he was missing some important piece of context here. Really, when did Zelda and Itaav get _this_ friendly?

They ended up grabbing a quick bite to eat before returning to the playhouse and being ushered to their seats. For all the fears Zelda had of being late, their seatmates hadn't arrived. But then Zelda started worrying over who would be sitting next to whom, which was something that Itaav honestly didn't care for. Link, however, silently hoped he would get to sit next to Zelda.

"Oh, hello everyone," the sound of the voice made Link blush furiously, and he quickly turned around to see Laruto would be someone's seatmate.

"Hello, Laruto," Zelda began cheerfully, "You made a wonderful Ruto! I hope you get the part again next year!"

A slight purple flush came on the Zora's face, "Thank you, Marin; you made a great Sheik as well." Then she looked over to Link, who seemed to be doing everything within his willpower to avoid eye contact with her, and said warmly, "And Link, you were the best Hero Dragonroost has seen in years." Link could only blubber out some semblance of a "thank you," which the Zora girl ignored but his friends did not. In fact, Zelda seemed to be putting something together in her mind and her expression became unreadable. Itaav, however, was trying to contain an amused grin.

"If you and Link ever decide to come back to Dragonroost during the festival, we wouldn't mind you two reprising your roles," Laurto added kindly before looking to Itaav and saying, "Perhaps even you can take part if you come back, too. I didn't really get to meet you properly at all, Mr. Itaav – just what I've heard from Marin and Link, really."

Itaav just gave the Zora a friendly grin and shrugged, "Not much to know except I'm the only Hylian you'll ever know that can fly," and then he took both Zelda and Link's shoulders on each one of his arms said, "But hey, what are we doing standing around? We've got seats; let's sit on down. Here, Link, why don't you sit next to Laruto? And Marin, you can sit next to Link, and I'll sit next you too. You're right in the middle, Marin; everyone's happy."

But someone was most certainly not happy and could not appropriately verbalize it. Link, red faced and embarrassed, just robotically sat down. Laruto gave Link a curious look before taking her own seat.

Still keeping his chortles inside, Itaav became distracted when Zelda leaned towards him and whispered, "Itaav! Link's acting so strangely around Laruto! Do you think… Do you think he'd wish to court her?" Her tone didn't suggest any shock or outrage, but simple curiosity.

He had to bite the inside of his cheek or else risk a very audible outburst of laughter. When he managed to control himself enough to speak without giving away his very obvious amusement, he replied to the princess, "You should probably ask him later."

She gave him an ever so slight nod and then glanced at Link, who was as still as stone and focused on the stage before them. Laruto simply gave Link a worried glance, but upon catching Zelda's glance, smiled kindly at the girl. Zelda then sat back in her own seat in thought. She supposed Link had been acting a bit odd lately, right after she had suggested for him to talk to the Zora girl. Had something happened as a result of that talk?

For a moment, Zelda remembered one of the noble girls she was acquainted with on _the Pride_, Mina. Mina had always been talking about who was with such and such and Zelda, finding it a bore since she never gave a thought to courting and was pretty unfamiliar with the people she had spoken of. But now that Zelda actually knew the parties involved, she was immensely curious to know what exactly had happened between the Zora girl and Link. Why exactly, she couldn't say, but she just did.

But there wasn't really much time to think on it, as the stage lights began to intensify on the stage.

The play was exactly the story that Laruto and Medli had told them right before volunteering Link and Zelda for the play regarding the Hero of Time, but it was something to see it performed. Half of the cast was Zora, while the other half were Rito dressed as Zora. It wasn't really a true drama of a play; it was very traditionally in the way it was performed – eloquent speech, flashy movements – it was almost like a dance the way the cast moved about the stage. And when the play reached the point where Valoo would give his first scale to the first Zora to turn Rito, the great dragon atop of Dragonroost let out an earthshaking roar. The audience, not expecting this, burst out into a miniature applause. Link, Zelda, and Itaav certainly hadn't expected it, and while Zelda cheered and clapped with the rest of the audience, Link and Itaav looked at each other in confusion. Because the cast sure didn't seem to expect the roar either. Medli and Komali, still in the Zora coverings, had huddled with their Zora castmates and were quickly and quietly speaking of something.

When the dragon lifted itself from its sitting position at the mountain peak and let out another great roar, that's when it became apparent to everyone that something was not right. People rose up from their seats in alarm, trying to follow the gaze of Valoo as the dragon tracked something in the sky.

"Link, Itaav… what's happening…?" Zelda asked worriedly over the growls of the great beast.

"Vacation's over, I think…" Itaav said tersely.

"_Princess_…"

The sound of the voice made Zelda freeze before shuddering in disgust. She'd honestly hoped she would never ever have to hear Cole's voice ever again. Knowing that the foul little demon was intent on murdering her in order to resurrect an even fouler demon only made the menace in his address of her all the more frightening. But she caught sight of both Itaav and Link edging closer to her, looking around furtively on her behalf. How could she be so scared when they were being so strong? It was enough to make her stand up straighter and taller.

"Princess, you wretched little brat; I know you're on this island – so make it easier for yourself and come out before I raze the entire thing!" Cole's voice reverberated throughout the whole island, sending shudders up the spines of all of Dragonroost's denizens.

"He's bluffing," Itaav quickly whispered to Link and Zelda. "There's no way he can do that if he's been tracking us since we left _the Pride_; there's way too much water and he hasn't been hitching rides." The last was only a guess; he really didn't want to think of their chances if Cole hadn't been expending all of his energy trying to find them.

"I'll give you till the count of – AAAAAAUGH!"

Apparently, Valoo had found the demon. The moment the dragon pounced from his perch and snapped his jaws, Cole's scream was audible to all on the island. The demon's scream of pain was so blood curdling that everyone around the trio seemed to be sent in a flurry of panic. Screams erupted from every corner of the island; for every Rito that took flight in fear or every Zora that dove into the waters to escape, even more were running for their lives.

The trio of Hylians managed to stay together, even though they were being pushed and near trampled by the panicking masses. Zelda managed to clamp her hands to Itaav's and Link's hands, ensuring they wouldn't be easily separated. But even together, none of them had any idea what to do or nor any time or space to discuss it.

Then Link yanked them away. Confused, both Itaav and Zelda looked to Link to try and figure out where the Scaler was leading them. They couldn't make out much except that they were going against the traffic of panicking people. However, it seemed like Link was being pulled along himself; but by whom the princess and the Engineer couldn't tell. Briefly, Zelda looked up as she was pulled along. She could Valoo spewing flames at a small shape that was flitting around, throwing balls of magic in a shade of sickening green at Dragonroost's namesake.

Zelda looked forward again, noting that less people were bumping into them and the crowds were dying. She could now see that it was Laruto leading Link along. Where the Zora was leading them, though, she couldn't say. All she could really make out was that they were going up… which didn't really seem like a good idea to her given that going up meant getting closer to the battle between Valoo and Cole.

"Ah shit," she heard Itaav behind her.

She glanced over her shoulder, seeing that as they continued to climb stairs, a view of the ocean was available to them. With night still falling and darkening the horizon, she wouldn't have noticed at first. But there were small lights on the water and she made out the silhouette of a massive, lithe ship. The sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach only grew as a canon blast came from the ship, lightening it for the briefest of seconds to confirm the presence of the _Sea Naga_ approaching Dragonroost.

They had reached a balcony where Laruto had come to an abrupt stop, causing Zelda to bump into Link and Itaav nearly to crash against Zelda. The Zora girl let go of Link's hand and then immediately went to the rail of the balcony, her black eyes focused on the view of the _Naga_ that the balcony gave them. They neared the Zora girl, half focused on the water and half focused on her stern expression. But then the Zora girl's lips twitched upwards, and looking at the ocean showed them why. Slamming against the _Naga_ and causing the massive ship to veer off its course to the island was a massive fish.

"What the hell is that?!" Itaav asked in what sounded like disgust at the sight.

"That's the Great Jabun," Laruto responded with relief in her voice; but she turned and looked at the trio, "We have to get you off the island and to the mainland. Medli is already arranging for help but-"

"Wait, wait, wait – what?" Link interrupted, trying to figure out what was going on exactly.

"Link, please, there's no time to explain – you and the princess need to leave Dragonroost as soon possible!" The Zora said quickly before looking back over the railing. But before anyone could respond to the fish girl's surprising revelation of knowing Marin's identity, she said, "When you're all safe Medli and I will find you, but in the meantime, you three need to jump!"

"What?!" Came from all three of the teenagers in varying levels of horror.

"You mean, jump over the rail there?" Link asked in horror.

Laruto rolled her eyes, "Yes! Don't worry, you'll be fine, just do it! Valoo and Jabun can only hold off this attack for so long!"

If they were about to object, the canon fire from the Naga gave them all pause. Zelda was the first one to nod, run up to the rail, and throw herself over it. A flabbergasted Link quickly followed her, jabbering madly for the girl to stop. Itaav, still incredibly hesitant at the wisdom of throwing oneself off of a ledge into watery depths that no one knew how to swim, made a face but finally relented. He glanced at Laruto, mumbling a, "We owe you one…" before grabbing the rail and jumping off of the balcony.

It was strange to think, but there was something almost exhilarating about free falling, Itaav thought. Much like walking was controlled falling, flight was basically just controlled falling in the air. It was just a stone's throw away from being different. Exhilarating as it was, though, it was utterly terrifying too because Itaav knew he couldn't pull off flight again at that very moment. He was sure that within a few seconds, he'd be belly flopping to his death. Then there was a yanking sensation on his shoulders, and he looked up to see Komali grinning down at him.

Despite the discomfort of bird talons digging into his shoulders, he really couldn't have been more relieved. He looked ahead to see the Rito he'd met on Linebeck's ship carrying Link and Zelda being carried by Medli. The only question now was where they were going. Flying by themselves was one thing, but carrying Hylian cargo was another thing.

His worries were unfounded however; the Rito had carried them for less than an hour before they closed in on what seemed to be an artificial island. It was an outcropping made of what seemed to be leftover ship parts… and all of a sudden, Linebeck's business of seling old parts seemed to make sense. Whatever this place was, the Rito and the Zora had built it themselves and hadn't advertised its whereabouts – none of the three Hylians had heard of the existence of this strange place despite having spent a week on Dragonroost. To top it off, there seemed to be a boat there as well.

The Rito gently let them go upon the platform before landing off to the side and catching their breaths. Quill, being the first to recover, wordlessly set off to the boat and began knocking on the door to the captain's cabin. The Hylians didn't see more, as Medli and Komali took charge of the situation.

"Sorry for the scare," Komali said bashfully, "And sorry that I got you all wrong too, Marin… I mean, Princess…"

"Oh, it's… it's nothing, don't worry." Zelda said, "But how did you know?"

"I always knew," Medli said matter-of-factly, "I'm the Great Valoo's attendant, after all."

And all of a sudden, Zelda remembered that night she'd found Itaav and how the dragon had seemed to be staring into her very soul.

"All right, that's great," Link said, clearly very jumpy, "But what now? Cole's back there and the Gerudo aren't far behind – we can't stay here!"

"Quill's taking care of that," Komali assured, "He's talking to the Zora in charge of that ship; he'll be able to take you to the Continent as soon as the boat's ready. And don't worry about Dragonroost – Valoo's veering the demon away and Jabun should keep the Gerudo away."

Zelda let out a breath of relief, but her brow furrowed, "But where will we go from there?"

Surprisingly, Itaav was the one with an answer for that, "I… I think I've got an idea. I know a guy in the Fire Realm; we can probably lay low with him until we figure out what we're going to do, exactly."

Link grimaced at that, though, "Oh goddesses, you're not talking about-"

"Yes, Link, I am talking about him but at the moment, it's him or wander aimlessly until a demon catches us." Itaav snapped.

Zelda looked between the two boys confusedly, hearing Link mumble under his breath something about not knowing which was worse. However, it didn't seem like she would be getting any sort of indication as to the nature of the person they were speaking of and she didn't want to push it. If they were going there, she was going to meet the fellow anyways…

"Oy, the boat's ready!" Quill called from the boat, where he stood next to what they could only presume was the captain of the ship.

Komali took turns grasping the hands of each of the Hylians, giving them a firm, "Good luck; may the wind stay strong beneath your wings."

The three Hylians made their way to the boat, but before boarding the catwalk, Medli said, "Before you make your way to the Fire Realm, I'd like for you three to wait by the Spirit Pillars – it's not far off from where the boatman will leave you, you should be able to see them."

Itaav forked an eyebrow, and with a note of suspicion in his voice, he asked, "Why?"

Medli had a look on her face that said she wanted to tell of it, but a glance towards Komali had silenced her. Whatever she may have wanted to say, she didn't want to say it in front of the prince. "Just please trust me… I don't know how long you'll have to wait, but please…. It's important." The three Hylians looked at each other, Zelda with worry, while the boys had some look of doubt on their faces. The last thing they wanted to do was stay put in a place right after a demon had reappeared in their lives. "I'm just asking you, please. You don't have to… but I really think you should. Now go, there's not much time…"

They were shooed onto the boat, made quick introductions with the laidback Zora boatman, Japas, and they set off towards the mainland. Japas, focused on navigation, wasn't much of a conversationalist. It was all as well for the three teens, who had decided to converse over whether to head straight to the Fire Realm or wait by the Spirit Pillars.

"I don't want to wait around anywhere – Cole's caught our scent again and they said it themselves, the dragon can only hold him off for so long. And then there's the Gerudo…" Itaav growled.

"How do they keep tracking us…?" Link asked, frustrated.

"It doesn't really matter, but they're finding us."

"I think… I think we should go to the Spirit Pillars." Zelda let out. The boys looked at her, their expressions showing their disagreement.

"If Cole finds us-" Itaav had begun, but the princess cut him off, "Medli hasn't done anything to show she's untrustworthy – no one on Dragonroost has."

"It's not a matter of trust, Zelda," Link said, trying to sound as gentle as he could but failing as his frustration over the whole situation was still present. He knew that it was a bad idea to stay on Dragonroost, despite the fact that they didn't have much choice in whether to stay or go. It was all catching up to him, and he was getting upset about it. "It's a matter of safety. Our first priority is keeping you safe – we don't know how long we'll have to wait at the Spirit Pillars if we do go there… If Cole found us, it'll only be a matter of time before he finds us again… And the same goes for the Gerudo too – it's been a week since we last encountered them, and they tracked us to Dragonroost!"

"I'm pretty fond of the idea of keeping my hide intact too," Itaav said, "Trustworthy or no, I'd rather keep moving; keep our trail hard to find. We might lose the Gerudo since they're seafaring, but Cole… Cole doesn't have a boat. And when he's off of the sea and had a chance to gather his strength, he'll be even more annoying than he is now."

Zelda pursed her lips, finding herself feeling rather cross towards these two boys – perhaps since the first time she'd met them. _They're acting like… like Zev!_ It was a thought that both saddened and angered her. She missed her brother terribly… but she wasn't about to be told what to do again. "Well you two can whatever you'd like then! I'm going to wait by the Spirit Pillars and… and I don't know, but Medli asked us to wait there and that's what I'm going to do, at least!" She snapped.

Link flinched at her words, conflicted on how to react. On the one hand, he understood where she was coming from… but he doubted how safe it was. He had to protect her, but he didn't want to stifle her either. He didn't know what to do!

Itaav, on the other hand, seemed to be less affected by Zelda's outburst. In fact, he looked at her with some sort of degree of interest. She was taking charge for once, which puzzled him a bit. Until then, she seemed so content to follow along, but right now she was set on doing what she had wanted to do. Whether it was because of a gut feeling she had or she was just being obstinate, he didn't know. But he was curious. _My my… aren't you a feisty little maiden?_ The Thoughts in the Back of His Head echoed wistfully in his mind. And he'd forgotten that he wouldn't let the Thoughts interfere with his first thoughts, at that time. It was all too interesting and he wanted to see what would come of it. Was it bad idea or a good idea? He supposed in the grand scheme of things, he could escape if it was a bad idea, maybe even save the sorry butts of those two and rub it in their faces. "All right then, Zelda, I'll go with you on this one." He conceded.

The Scaler put on a pained face, really wishing he hadn't been outvoted… And a part of him was also incredibly upset that Itaav never listened to him… And another part was actually jealous of the way Zelda brightly smiled at the Engineer.

* * *

Everyone was just waiting for this chapter, hunh? ... I don't really have much to say about it. We have some Itaav memories going on... yeah. That's it. Oh yeah. Cole and the Gerudo caught up to. Fun times, fun times... I'm honestly surprised there weren't more explosions with the track record these three have right now.

**That One Anon**, I appreciate reviews of all sizes because I'm a bit of an attention whore like that. Just hearing that you enjoy reading the story makes my day! :3 As for Itaav's fate... I'm afraid anything I say would probably be a spoiler, and I don't want to give anyone ideas! I'm unfortunately a real stickler for keeping people guessing at all times and being unpredictable. Sorry!

**Crackers on Crack**, forgive me for not doing correct capitilaztion on your username. I'm feeling kind of lazy at the moment. D: Nonetheless... THANK YOU SO MUCH. This story is one I've put so much time and effort into, and I'm glad to hear that I'm doing a good job at it. I mean, I always say I am, but am I really? It's good to get the reassurance that I'm not being as stuck up as I think I am. Funnily enough, though, my main inspiration was actually Castle in the Sky. watched the first 3 or 4 episodes of Last Exile such a long time ago but I honestly don't remember much of it... I should finish watching it someday. D:

**Swamp Dragon Princess**, jeebus crisscross, even your own opinions were correct. You literally got EVERYTHING. The only thing I will say is a bit iffy is the Thoughts in the Back of His Head thing... Well, that isn't quite correct, but we'll get into that as the story progresses. YOU'LL SEE WHAT I MEAN. In the meantime, take all of the internet cookies since you were the only one who went through the time to find all traces of Vaats in the last chapter XD


	27. Endless

Delightful Day to you all, my Dilly-Dallying Ducks! Something must be wrong with the world because I've been updating far too often!

As per usual, hasn't really been checked for mistakes. More grievous ones will be corrected within a few a days. A little shorter than usual too. Sorry.

* * *

The Rito Chieftain and King Zora stood side by side on the main pier of Dragonroost, surrounded by their respective guards and gazing restlessly at the small boat that was making it to the docks. The morning light showed the passengers on the boat were several women and one man, and the identities of two people on the boat, the sole man and the only woman not rowing, could be easily ascertained. The Pirate King and his Captain were known all throughout the Great Sea, after all – even on an island like Dragonroost where they never ventured.

"First a demon and now an intrusion by the Gerudo…" King Zora complained quietly.

"Shush," the Rito leader said, "They'll leave us alone once they see we have nothing of interest to them."

"But we don't even know-"

"Shush!"

And after that last bit of scolding, King Zora remained quiet but dismayed. They stayed in silence until the small boat came up the dock and the rowers hastily began to tie it off. The Pirate King simply stepped out of the boat and offered a hand of assistance to his lady Captain, who ignored the offer. Seemingly amused more than anything else, the Gerudo man simply fell into step with his wife and they approached the two governing leaders of the island's races.

"It is unusual for the Gerudo to pay any sort of heed to our humble island," said the Rito Chieftain, excellently hiding the anxiety he felt. "What's brought about this change, if we may ask?"

But the Gerudo male didn't seem to hear him, instead gazing up to the deserted peak of the island's summit. "How's your demon problem?"

"Excuse me?" The Chieftain said, taken aback. Next to him, he could hear his Zora counterpart stifling a nervous wail.

The Pirate King looked back to the Chieftain and Zora King, saying calmly and patiently, "Last night we couldn't help but notice your Guardian dragon seemed to be fighting something off. Exactly what it was we couldn't tell due to another Guardian pummeling our ship-"

"Which is going to cost us a few thousand rupees, by the way," the Captain added cheerfully.

"-But we think we know enough to recognize the particular demon that graced your island with his presence. It looks like he's been chased off for the moment, but we can't help but wonder why he was here in the first place. Care to share?"

The Zora King was shuffling nervously in place, but the Rito Chieftain, even though his feathers were slightly fluffed, remained calm. "I'm afraid we don't know anything."

The Pirate King forked a thick red eyebrow and his lips tilted downward; his wife simply seemed amused. "We only desire information," the man assured.

"It's the truth!" King Zora finally wailed, "We really don't know!"

"Quiet, Toto!" The Rito Chieftain snapped at the Zora irritably. He looked to the Pirate King and said levelly, "But he's right. We don't know anything. Only the Guardians know." Which was the absolute truth. Neither he nor King Zora knew why a demon had targeted their island, only that it was something about a "princess." But it made no sense to either of the rulers of Dragonroost, as they only had sons and no daughters. There were no princesses on Dragonroost as far as they were aware, and even if there were, the men certainly wouldn't let them uphold any sort of affiliation with a demon.

While the Gerudo man was not pleased by his words, he didn't say anything immediately. He glanced to his wife, who still looked amused more than anything else. Whatever the case, the two seemed to have some sort of wordless conversation between themselves. When their gazes finally tore apart, the man said, "If you don't know, then you have nothing to hide. And I'm sure there's someone on this island who does know. We'll be searching the island."

With a careless wave of her hand, the Captain signaled for the other Gerudo women to begin their search. But the Rito Chieftain stepped forward in outrage, "Absolutely not – that's a violation-"

With surprising speed for such a large man, the Pirate King grabbed the Rito by the scruff of his collar and snarled, "I'm perfectly willing to be civil and not ransack your island, but if you keep us from our business I'm sure we can find the time in our terribly busy schedules to ransack. So tell me, which would you prefer?"

The Rito gritted his teeth, but King Zora answered for him, "Yes, your Gerudo can search!"

The Pirate King brightened significantly then and released the Rito Chieftain, "Good. If your people don't cause any trouble, then we won't cause you any and we'll be on our merry way. Contrary to popular belief, we're not terribly fond of needless violence." He told them cheerfully.

But the Rito Chieftain had a look of distaste in his expression as he watched the man join his wife in their search for who knew what. All that he really knew was that the two people who did have any idea of the true nature of what had happened last night had left Dragonroost with the Guardians. It was only when the Gerudo had escaped from sight that he did let a small smirk come onto his face.

* * *

Japas had left the trio of Hylians by an apparently abandoned dock near the Spirit Pillars of the Continent. The Zora had given Itaav directions to Goron City and wished them luck before setting off. The Hylians wasted no time walking to the cliff where the dilapidated stacks of stone that had no doubt been the origin of the Spirit Pillar name were. Having nothing to really say, the three had a silent trip to the Pillars. The Pillars themselves were nothing special. They were simply three stone towers of varying height, none of the heights being the original. However tall these towers used to be, the three Hylians couldn't hazard a guess… and none of them really cared, not even the ever curious Zelda.

The princess, in fact, was not her peppy, usual self at all. Cole's reappearance rattled her and she felt horribly guilty for having brought danger to the citizens of Dragonroost Island. But after remembering Zev, she was reminded of her being the first princess off of _the Pride_ since her grandmother. And her father and brother likely had no idea where she was or if she was safe… Looking out at the ocean from the cliffside, she wondered where _the Pride_ was. It was around two weeks since she'd been off _the Pride_… She should've known where the great ship was, but she'd forgotten. Had she ever really known or paid attention to where _the Pride_ went?

"Are you all right?" She turned to see Link, concern etched in his face.

"Yes," she lied. But it was okay to lie in this case, right? She didn't want to worry him. They all had so much to worry about right now.

But the concern never left his face. She was fairly certain he didn't believe her, but instead of calling her out on it, he said, "How long do you want to wait here?"

"As long as it takes," she said simply, but she added kindly, "Thank you, by the way…"

He shrugged, "I was outvoted on it; I'm not about to desert you just for that."

She smiled, "I'd still like to thank you for it. You're very kind, Link."

The Scaler blushed and seemed at a loss for words for a moment. She wondered why.

As the hours passed and their shadows loomed longer, the trio sat together in silence, all of them tired and hungry. Zelda eventually curled up and napped, while the two boys only stared at the scenery caught up in their own thoughts. Link continued to worry over their unfortunate turn for the worse while cursing the fact he was still in that horridly warm costume, while Itaav began to wonder over the nature of the hallucinations he'd been suffering.

When the sun began to set, Link was beginning to worry that their waiting was for naught. He decided that when Zelda woke up, he would have to really talk to her about moving on to Goron City. What disturbed that train of thought was the sound of a stringed instrument. But it didn't sound like the lyre that Zelda and Medli had played, nor did it really sound like anything Link had ever heard before. The only reason he was sure it was stringed was because it had the resonating thrum that he'd associated with the lyre (and deep in the back of hismind, Itaav's stupid ukulele).

Both Link and Itaav looked to each other, making sure that they were both hearing the sound and they weren't going crazy. Even Zelda stirred from the sound of the strange musical thrums. "What's that sound?" She mumbled as she groggily sat herself up.

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Itaav said, both his and Link's eyes wandering in search for their elusive instrumentalist. And as the Engineer strained his ears to figure out the sound's location, he realized it was coming from above them. And sure enough, when he looked up, sitting atop one of the broken pillars was a cloaked figure with a strange instrument that seemed to be some sort strange, small cello.

Upon noticing what Itaav had, Link stood up and made for the prop sword at his side – and felt ridiculous about it; he really would have appreciated the scimitar that he "borrowed" from Linebeck's girlfriend. But the cloaked figure continued to strum the stringed instrument with a fan shaped plectrum.

"Don't see many folk come up here anymore," said the cloaked figure. It sounded female, but there was an odd quality to the voice that didn't sound quite humanoid. "The Spirit Pillars are an old sacred place; not many appreciate the things from ancient times anymore."

Link lowered the ridiculous prop blade, his expression somewhat puzzled. A quick glance to Itaav and Zelda showed him that they were having difficulty trying to grasp what this person was trying to get at. In any case, she didn't seem to mean any harm, though Link didn't put away the blade.

"Say… you three look like you might be interested in a bit of legend. Do you want to hear one of my songs?" The strange woman asked from atop her pillar.

"A minstrel…?" Zelda thought aloud. "So… we would need to pay her if we wanted to hear a song."

Link frowned. He wasn't entirely interested in songs or legends, even less so if he had to pay for them. But he had a feeling this might be one of those types of people who wouldn't leave till they got some of your money, and seeing as how this woman was a bit too odd for his tastes, he wouldn't mind seeing her go away as quickly as possible. He reached for the rupee wallet and pulled out a blue rupee, but before he could react Itaav jumped up, took an orange rupee from the bag and threw it up towards the woman. The blond boy was about to scold his friend something fierce up until he noticed that instead of grabbing the rupee, something long, pink and wiggly came from beneath the woman's hood and swiped the rupee mid air. All three of the teens were stunned.

"I… I think she just ate our money." The princess gasped.

The strange woman chuckled, "Thank you kindly… Now here's your song." She played her strange instrument and then sang,

"_From the world's dawning to its end, _

_The endless open the way. _

_You who hear their call, _

_Abandon yourself to fate, _

_And surrender yourself to all._"

The three were still taken aback by the earlier display of her eating their money, but as the words sunk into the heads of the trio, they were left just as puzzled. Link certainly hadn't expected much, so it was strange how the words of this unfamiliar song resonated with him – as if something about it made sense even though he didn't know why.

"That's all for today, youngins," the strange woman said before standing up on the pillar. All three teens took note of webbed feet. "It seems you have company."

The last statement had them looking to the ocean horizon, turning their backs on the strange person. As the stranger had said, they were going to get visitors. In the sky, a great red dragon bobbed up and down as its wings pumped the air and sent it soaring towards them and another winged form, significantly smaller, flew nearby him. And in the waves themselves, a great fish leapt from the water, a lantern hanging from an antenna glowing with an otherworldly light and accentuating the strange, golden markings along its side. Near the great fish, its own follower swam along with it, not jumping, but swimming simply and swiftly.

"It's Laruto and Medli," Zelda commented with some measure of shock, "And the Guardians…"

And it was then that Link was really glad he was outvoted earlier; he really hated to think what would have happened if he stiffed a dragon and a fish that could swallow him whole. But while Link and Zelda were focused on their new company coming, Itaav glanced back to take a look at their strange new friend, only to see that the woman seemed to have taken off while they had all looked to the Guardians. _What a weirdo_.

However, the closer their four new visitors got, the farther inland they stepped back. It ended up proving a good idea, as the first to land before them was the Great Valoo himself, landing on the cliffside with a harsh and loud _thump_ that all three teens were sure might have sent some clots of the cliffside into the sea. Medli joined them after scooping down to pick up her Zora cousin, and the two attendants looked at the trio gravely.

"How is the island?" Zelda asked quickly and worriedly.

Both attendants smiled tiredly, and Laruto answered, "The island is fine but the Gerudo are investigating."

"No one knows what we know, but people did see you – it won't be long before they catch on." Medli added.

"But then why ask us to wait if we should be moving?!" Link asked in a mix of frustration and worry. The Gerudo were held up, but what about Cole? He was pretty sure if the horrible demon was dead, there would be more of a lively, cheery look from the two attendants.

"We know it's a lot to ask given the situation, but we didn't want to send you away without giving you important information," Laruto said gently.

"Wait, how much do you all really know?" Itaav asked suspiciously.

"Very little, actually," Medli confessed, "Valoo and Jabun know more than we do."

"And we must be honest, they don't want us to know much ourselves."

Both Itaav and Link looked at each other in an "Are you kidding me" fashion before the more confrontational Itaav spat, "Then how are we supposed get this supposedly important information if they won't tell you anything?!"

But halfway through his question, the expression on both girls went completely and utterly empty. It wasn't unnoticeable. As soon as Itaav finished speaking, he felt as if he might have said something wrong. The girls were practically catatonic, and while only a few seconds had passed, their quiet was so unnatural that it made all three of the Hylians severely uncomfortable. And the discomfort definitely did not go away when the girls regained some sort of consciousness. But the stoic and humorless faces they had on hinted as if the consciousness inside of them wasn't their own.

Both girls then faced Itaav, their expressions hard. Medli was the one to speak first. "_Perhaps this shall answer your question, mage._"

All three Hylians were flabbergasted. The words that had come out of the Rito girl's mouth were… different. It was Hylian, but… almost archaic in the way it was spoken. They knew now were not spoken by Medli, but by the Great Valoo – as if they had been speaking the Modern Hylian they normally spoke.

Zelda was the first to have any sort of visible reaction in her stunned, "Oh," while Link was trying to register what had just happened and Itaav looked extremely confused. But Zelda, being the only one who had any real idea of what was going on, looked at Valoo on the cliff, and saw that the dragon's eyes seemed out of focus. "This is… it's some form of possession."

Laruto nodded, and Jabun spoke through her, "_It is a possession that can only be done with those of the blood of the Zora Sage flowing through their veins._"

"That… that seems like a big invasion of privacy…" Was all Link could muster, but upon both possessed girls staring at him, he held his hands up in a defensive gesture and said, "But understandable; nothing wrong here."

"Um," Zelda piped up, getting back the attention of the Guardians, "How is it we can understand you? I know of Old Hylian, but I've never heard it spoken before. Yet we can understand you."

"_That is because you and Link are of the endless – beings destined to be trapped in a cycle of reincarnation until the sacred power running through your blood and spirit diminishes._"

Link's jaw dropped. He didn't say anything, because he wasn't sure if there was something crazy in his ear or if he'd really heard what he thought he had heard. And then he remembered the song that they had heard not long ago by that strange woman, a song about… the endless, she called them. As if she was giving them some clue as to what to expect. His mind tried to wrap around it. Triforce bearer… The Hero of Time… he was said to be a Triforce bearer. He looked to the back of his hand, trying to find that sigil that Itaav had found on Zelda the night he'd taken her to the hangar, and all of a sudden, Link felt a sort of sickening sense of kinship with said Hero as he realized he was still in the costume from that stupid play. It was like this was all some sort of sick joke. He was dressed like the Hero of Time because… because he was the Hero? Is that what was happening? He was just a Scaler from _the Pride_, as average as anyone could possibly be… and now he was supposed to be a Hero reincarnated. If that was the case, he supposed it made sense as to why he could understand this outdated dialect of Hylian; because once upon a time, he'd spoken it in some past life. It was all so outrageous. It couldn't be true… could it?

An idea came into his head. It would be the nail on the coffin, as they used to say, to prove if what he'd just heard was correct. He looked back at Itaav, who was simply looking the possessed girls in sheer confusion. Link felt a groan of despair rising to his throat, but kept it inside. The Engineer hadn't understood of a word of what these girls had said. This wasn't a really bad joke.

Zelda could see the look on Link's face did not indicate any warm reception to this newest bit of grave news. Pursing her lips, she took one step forward towards the Guardians, "I… I know that I have sacred blood but… Does Link really need to be caught up in this too?"

The blond boy looked to Zelda then and immediately felt guilty. In his moment of disbelief, he'd forgotten that the princess needed him to be strong. He couldn't let himself show any negativity. If… if this is what Fate had in store for them… Well, he supposed if he was really the Hero incarnate…

"_Of course; just as you are endless, he is as well._" Said Laruto's voice as Jabun spoke.

Zelda frowned, but said nothing. Valoo then took the reins, and channeled through Medli, "_However, the story of this cycle shall come to pass soon. You and he must be victorious lest the cycle ends forever in the favor of demons._"

"_As you currently stand, you are unarmed for victory._" Jabun continued, directing its vessel's gaze towards Link. "_In order to protect this world, your resolve must be strong. If it is strong enough, you shall obtain the key to your victory._"

Link straightened up, and with determination in his eyes, he asked, "What do we have to do?"

The possessed Medli reached for something within the satchel at her side. After a moment of digging, she took out an old, large, rolled up paper. Holding the roll in both hands, she stepped up to Zelda, knelt down, and presented it to her. Zelda fidgeted for a moment, feeling it awkward that a Guardian would kneel to her. She was so sure that a creature so grand wouldn't need to recognize her as Princess of _the Pride_. But she did not dare question it, and gingerly took the old roll within both her hands.

Only after it was no longer within Medli's hands did Valoo see it fit to let his vessel stand and say, "This is a map of the Continent and Sea. Marked upon it are the locations of three sacred pearls you must seek out; when you obtain all three pearls, you must find the three locations on the Sea marked on this map. From there, the path will open."

But before either Zelda or Link could ask, 'What path?' Medli blinked two or three times and seemed rather confused as to how she ended up right in front of Zelda. Laruto also seemed rather dazed for a moment, but both girls seemed to have understood that the Guardians had spoken through them, and asked no questions as to what they had said or done. Instead, Laruto said, "We won't keep you any longer; it's important that whatever mission you're on, you do it as quickly as possible." Despite the professional tone she used, she looked at all of them softly and her gaze lingered on Link for a hair longer than it did on Zelda or Itaav. The blond blushed.

Medli smiled sadly, "We have to go too. People will ask questions if the Guardians are gone for too long. Good luck, you three. We'll be praying for you."

And after Link and Zelda said their farewells, Valoo leapt from the cliff and began his flight back to Dragonroost, while I the sea below Jabun swam swiftly through the waves. Medli and Laruto waved at them as the winged girl picked up the Zora to give her a gentler entrance to the waves.

After they watched the Guardians and the attendants leave, Zelda gave Link the map that Valoo had given her with a blush. She was embarrassed to say that she couldn't read it properly as she was not familiar with the Continent at all, but Link smiled at her understandingly and took it. He opened it up and began to study it, and not wanting to disturb him, Zelda wandered over to Itaav. The pale boy had been incredibly quiet, and now that she really saw him, he seemed disturbed by something. She recalled how sickly he had looked when she'd found him after her part in the play was done, and found that the way he looked then and the way he looked now were similar.

And then she had an idea as to what had him rattled. She and Link were "endless," but Itaav had nothing to do with this. It made her feel terrible for him again, as she was dragging a party that really nothing to do with this issue into this nasty business. And if he was going to stay with them and help them, he had at least deserved to know what Valoo and Jabun had told them. If he wasn't "in the loop" as she'd heard people say, he might get upset and try to leave again… and truthfully, she didn't want him to. They had just begun to get along after all.

She walked up to him and began, "I'm so sorry Itaav; you probably didn't understand a word of it. It must be so perplexing and-"

Itaav interrupted her there in a hoarse, quiet voice. "It is perplexing but... but not the way you think."

The princess frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It's perplexing because I _did_ understand." His voice was barely a whisper. "I understood it all." And he was deeply distressed by it. Not only because he understood it, but now that he recalled those… those hallucinations of his… The hat, the old man… himself… he'd been speaking those ancient words that he shouldn't have known. But he'd heard it himself. He wasn't one of these "endless" so why did he understand?

Zelda, looking as shocked as he felt, said nothing. She wasn't sure what she could say.

Itaav looked to her sternly, "Don't tell, Link." After a moment, he added, "Please."

She didn't understand why he wanted to keep it secret… but he seemed really troubled. And if he felt that keeping it to himself was the right thing to do… "I won't." She replied quietly.

"Well, Itaav," Link said aloud, still staring at the map before them, this time with utmost disdain. "Looks like there's no avoiding Goron City."

"One of the pearls is there?" Zelda asked, as she wandered back over to Link, Itaav following behind with some of his composure regained.

"Yeah," the blond boy groaned.

But Itaav, in an attempt to pretend like there wasn't anything wrong, smirked and patted Link on the back amiably, "Don't worry. I'm sure Groose missed you just as much as you missed him."

"Oh shut up, Itaav."

* * *

For once, everything was going Ganondorf's way.

… Well, maybe not everything, but he actually had no need to consult Koume and Kotake. The two leaders that governed the whole of Dragonroost really seemed to have no idea what had happened on their very own island. Terribly irresponsible, he thought, but in the end it didn't really matter. There were plenty of people on this island, and if the princess and that crafty fellow of hers had been there, they would find out.

And find out they did. Ganondorf was extremely satisfied to find a couple of Hylians that had been stuck on Dragonroost during the island's shut in festival. Apparently, they'd taken notice of three other Hylians that had been on the island, two of which matched the descriptions of the princess and her purple haired friend. That there was a third person with them was an interesting thing to know, so he made sure to take note of the third boy's description as well.

The really good information, however, came when this trio somehow managed to vanish off of the island after Cole's attack. The dock register showed all ships taking port at Dragonroost were still present. The three Hylians most likely didn't swim their way off of the island, which meant they had help from the Rito. And the Rito could only fly for so long without a rest. There had to be some sort of outpost somewhere nearby. If they could find that place it would be easy to deduce where they went from there. Dragonroost, after all, didn't have many other populated neighbors aside from Windfall Island the further away Bleak, which he was sure the princess and her friends were not likely to return to. This trio of Hylians was definitely findable.

What concerned him was the other factor he couldn't track – that being the demon, Cole. All he knew was that Cole had made an appearance in Dragonroost and was driven off of the island by its guardian dragon.

In truth, Cole was licking his wounds on an islet near the Misty Sea. He had not expected the dragon to come after him immediately… nor had he expected that he didn't have the power to fight back. Even now, the gashes all over his body had not fully healed. All this travel through the ocean had weakened him significantly. Worst of all was that he'd made so little progress in obtaining His Highness's sacrifice. She and her little boyfriends were proving to be more troublesome than he could have imagined…

_I may have to return…_ He thought to himself. Though just thinking of it made his eyes widen with terror. He couldn't just return to Mag Mel without some sort of progress… His Highness needed the girl, after all…

One more time. He had to go after them one more time. He would take the time to rest, heal, and regain his demonic energy. They were not to be underestimated, those foolish children. If he couldn't get them at full strength… then he would return to face his King's wrath. But he wouldn't fail. He couldn't fail. _Your Highness… I will make sure you obtain another, greater body yet! Just please offer me some shred of patience…_

* * *

Oh look, it's the plot!_  
_

Random notes - I've also thought the Rito chieftai was a more competant leader than Toto. Then again, a man who takes his sweet time literally moving his ass three feet to the side as the only action he does in a game doesn't inspire much confidence in the leadership department. Just sayin. Majora Toto was better, I suppose, but in OoT... Eh, didn't think much of him.

The frog-lady is actually not from the Zelda series, but the Breath of Fire series, more accurately Breath of Fire IV. I really love the Breath of Fire games, so when I was replaying IV a while back, the frog woman's song stood out in my head and I thought it would mesh really well with Fly Away and the Zelda-verse, in general. While her appearance isn't really necessary, I'll admit, I just wanted to include her because why not.

And what's this? More secrets between Zelda and Itaav? VaaZel shippers must love me right now and Zelink prolly hate me. Looks like I'll have to reverse the tides soon - because I'm just a terrible person like that. What will the pairing be in the end, though? Ohoho, only time will tell. Though I have to admit, some part of me actually doesn't want to go according to my original plan and just have Zelda say "PFFT WHO NEEDS MEN? I DON'T NEED TO GET WITH ANYONE TO BE A STRONG, WELL DEVELOPED CHARACTER." That same part also kind of wants to deviate just so she can get with Blind. OH WELL.

**fleets**, On the topic of Laruto, yeah, I wanted her to be different from what people thought I might have gone for in the crazy, clingy Ruto aspect. Then again, lately I've been finding myself rather feminist in my writing of female characters which is... well, not intentional, but yeah. XD I wanted her to be a very grounded, down to earth kind of girl who knows what's up. Despite her shyness, she knows what's going on. And yes, Din and Onox! And believe it or not, when I wrote that out, I was not thinking of Reversal at all. I was just thinking "I want Itaav's first kiss to have ended badly for him, how can I make that work" and that was just the first thing that came to mind. XD As for Itaav's method of flight, it is inconvenient at the moment, and it shall be remedied in the future. :p

Oh hey look, more developing Vaati traits. XD And yes, the Gerudo are definitely going to get more involved, perhaps sooner than I'd planned to the way things are turning out. I guess? I never even considered last chapter as a cliffhanger. I guess I end on them a lot then. XD Well, you just got the answer just now as to who the Fire Realm correspondent is! XD

**Guest**, eeyup it sure is.

**Swamp Dragon Princess**, hrrrm, so glad you noticed that, it certainly does seem that way doesn't it? Teehee. As for Valoo, he certainly did see something, and what he saw was pretty much revealed in this chapter. It had relatively nothing to do with Itaav. And yes, he does! I've never mentioned it before because I keep most of my physical descriptions rather non-nondescript since I tend to fail at being thorough at them. But he does have the marks under his eyes.


	28. Goron City

'Ello my Eager Eggheads, I'd like to apologize for the delay. I love how I say "I'll update once a month!" And then nearly three months later I update. As usual, hasn't really been checked over. Talk more at the bottom.

* * *

They had left the Spirit Pillars not long after they had set themselves a route. But as night fell, they were lucky enough to come across a caravan of Hylians returning to Goron City after delivering some Goron Iron. The friendly bunch invited them to travel along with them, and for once, all three of the teens were on the same page. Zelda, of course, loved the idea, and Itaav and Link were in no mood to argue with free food.

For the most part, though, Itaav and Link kept rather silent, while Zelda did all the chattering. Link had to admit, he wasn't fond that she was getting so much attention, but Itaav, who was moody again, just told Link to relax. The blond boy, of course, couldn't, but it seemed his worries were for naught. It grew later in the night, and the members of the caravan all went their separate ways to get sleep. The trio ended up finding their own patch around the caravan and settling there.

Link had opened up the map and started looking at the course the caravan mentioned they were taking. It was actually relaxing, as he could hear Zelda singing a song softly to herself. In fact, as he listened to her sing, he could feel some of his worries lift. He was barely paying attention to the map, more pretending to look at it while just listening to the girl's voice. By the time she stopped singing, he felt more relaxed and at peace than he had been for a very long time since this adventure started. He glanced at her, seeing she was curled up in a ball, fast asleep. Itaav was sprawled out a few feet away also dead to the world.

_Suppose I should see about some sleep too…_ he thought to himself. It'd been a pretty rough two days for them after all, and the caravan would probably be taking off early. Rolling up the map and sticking it through his belt, he lay back on the grass and stared up at the night sky, waiting for sleep to come.

It didn't.

He just stared at the stars, wondering if they looked any different here on the mainland than they did from _the Pride_. The ship was always moving after all. If he knew his constellations, would he notice any missing or see new ones? But he frowned, knowing that questions about constellations and stars weren't what were really keeping him up.

Raising his left hand up above him, he just stared at the back of hand. He knew Princess Zelda had one on the back of her hand. Itaav had showed it to him. But Link couldn't really believe that there was one on the back of his hand. It was hard to think that the Guardians of Dragonroost were wrong about these things, but they had to be in this case. There was no way he was the Hero incarnate.

"Link?" He jerked a bit in surprise, looking over to see Zelda, still curled up in her ball, but with her big blue eyes looking right at him, not delirious from sleep. It seems she hadn't been asleep. "Is something wrong?"

The blond boy wasn't sure how to answer her. After a moment he lowered his hand, looked back to the sky and said, "Yes. No. I don't know."

The girl picked herself up and crawled closer to him. "Tell me."

His brow furrowed; he didn't want to burden her with his own issues. But who else could he talk to about this? Itaav, he supposed, but... well, Link honestly wasn't sure he wanted to. While they were acting like everything was back to normal, it wasn't. And even if he did want to, his friend wouldn't really understand because… well, he didn't understand the words that had come out of Medli's and Laruto's mouths. Zelda was the only one he could speak to about this, and even if he didn't, he might just act as moody and angry as Itaav seemed to lately.

"I think they made a mistake." He finally said to her.

"Who?" She asked.

"The Guardians," Link clarified. "I can't possibly be _the_ Hero. I'm an orphan Scaler from _the Pride_. Until recently, nothing in my life was extraordinary. I'm just a normal guy doing what's right."

Frowning, the princess said, "But that does make you a hero." The boy forked an eyebrow and turned his head to look at the girl. He wasn't sure what to say that wouldn't make him sound like Itaav. But Zelda went on to say, "On _the Pride_, I learned a lot about the Heroes of the past. They all started off with normal lives, nothing special. They grew into becoming Heroes; but they didn't train for it, they were just doing what they perceived was the right thing to do. Like… Like the story about the Hero of Time – he was just a boy from the forest who did what he thought was right. And the Hero of the Four Sword just wanted to save his friend. I think what made them heroes was because they did the right thing and… If Bleak taught me anything, it's that doing the right thing is…" she frowned, and with a sigh continued, "It's not common."

He found himself blushing a bit at her words, "Th-that doesn't mean that I'm-"

But the girl gave him a sharp look that he never thought he'd ever see grace her pretty face, "Don't be ridiculous. You've saved Itaav and me, and you didn't hesitate to come to my aid or comfort me when I was feeling badly; you even do things that you don't really want to just because someone asks! Link, you're very heroic!" She told him matter-of-factly.

Even though he was red as a tomato at this point, he still tried to argue back. But all he could do was open and close his mouth as words failed to come out. Zelda then took his hand, which only made him more flustered; but not long after she took his hand, he felt a warmth flow from her hand into his – tingly, almost electric. When there was a faint, golden glow on the back of his hand shaped in a crest of three triangles, he went deathly still.

"See?" She said, her hand not leaving his.

He didn't respond, his eyes wide as he still stared at the crest. It looked nearly identical to the one he'd seen on her hand all those nights ago in Itaav's hangar, save that the triangle opposite of hers was the one glowing most emphatically. Eventually, when her monosyllabic question made it into his head, he could only nod. He saw it… and even though it was right there, he still wanted to doubt it.

The girl's fingers wrapped around his palm softly, snapping Link back into some sort of reality. He looked at her, blush returning to his face. Zelda was smiling at him serenely. "I have faith in you, Link. You should have faith in yourself."

And it was as she looked at him with those sparkling blue eyes that smiled with her soft pink lips that he realized he really wanted to kiss her.

_"You love that Marin girl, don't you?"_

Laruto's words made him freeze. He took his hand back quickly, said a shaky, "Y-yeah… Thanks, Zelda… I mean, Marin… Yeah, um, gotta wake up early tomorrow so… Gonna go to sleep now."

The princess just looked at him sweetly, utterly oblivious, and nodded, "Of course, you're welcome, Link. Good night."

"Yeah, good night." He said again before quickly turning over on his side and away from her.

_"Even though you say you don't like Marin in that way, I know you do…"_

And the more Laruto's words echoed in his brain, the more he was realizing the Zora girl had been right.

* * *

Bright and early the next morning, the trio left with the caravan. Much like the night before, Zelda had been the most talkative, but eventually Link had joined Zelda and Itaav managed to strike conversation with a Hylian who was apparently a tinkerer. For around three days, the trio had slipped back into a carefree mindset, temporarily forgetting their troubles as they travelled to Goron City. But as the journey continued, it was a bit sobering to see that they were approaching their destination. The grassy land they had come to shore on was drying out and the landscape becoming craggy.

And as the caravan approached a great mountain, the three teens knew that they had arrived at Goron City. Their new friends in the caravan had even told them so as they drove up to the gate of the city, which really wasn't so much of a gate as much as it was a bottleneck that led into the base of the mountain. After Itaav asked where Groose could be found, they bid their new friends goodbye and walked into Goron City.

When a view of the city proper came to them as they entered the city, Link and Zelda paused and gaped open mouthed for a moment. Itaav just smirked and nodded in approval, "I like this place." And precisely why he liked it was evident in the mode of cargo transportation throughout the City – winding railways snaked their ways in the mountain, around the mountain, and probably even under the mountain. Gorons and Hylians mingled together in the streets; stalls were mushed next to each other, spaced out with the disturbance of doorway into the mountain.

"Right, my guess is this is the marketplace – Groose is over in the industrial sector; they said that was over on the north end of the city, past the Darunia Monument." Itaav said, suspending the wonder in Zelda and Link so they could get to business.

The pale boy lead the way through the streets, the broad roads ensuring that there weren't crowds despite the number of Hylians and Gorons in the streets. Occasionally, Itaav would stop and look around, as if trying to get his bearings. It lead Zelda to wonder why he didn't just ask anyone, but she was so caught up in her own fascination with all the sights around her she rather didn't mind the pauses the Engineer took. The most distracting and interesting, she found, was comprised of mostly Gorons with a few watching Hylians. There was laughing, hooting, and cheering from all of them as she watched two Gorons trying to push each other out of a ring. There was no time to try to understand it before Link caught her attention and they moved on.

Link, in the meantime, was less excited. Goron City seemed like an interesting place, but the fact that they were going to see Groose Badon was more than enough to dampen his spirits. On _the Pride_, Groose had been an Above Deck Engineer. Unlike Itaav, Groose wasn't magically inclined, but wasn't put below deck because his technical genius was on par with Itaav's. In fact, both Engineers had regularly exchanged ideas and brainstormed, and Groose did have a part in some of the structure of the late _Helmaroc_. Point was, when Link met Groose, there were bad first impressions all around. Groose thought very highly of himself and his pompadour, so when Link couldn't take hearing any more of it that first day, his sarcastic comment of, "Yeah, nice hair," did not go over well.

It was amazing how one comment could ignite a mutual hatred between the two, a hatred that Itaav found absolutely hilarious and would egg both parties on with no attempts to halt furthering dislike. Eventually, Groose began to feel stifled by _the Pride_ and left, which was just fine to Link. One less pain in the ass to deal with.

But Link knew dealing with the pain in the ass would come to pass soon as the crowds died down and they seemed to be entering the industrial sector – which was aptly named. There were smithies dotted throughout the roads here, along with various metal constructs out for sale like piping, bars, supports and so on. Zelda was fascinated, and wanted to stop by and look at every shop and smithy, but Itaav kept moving on and she and Link kept following.

Their destination was not difficult to find; it was one of the biggest spaces, fenced in and filled with all sorts of metal structures for sale, including railing supplies. Over the gate was a sign that read, "Grooseland". The trio stood in front of the gate, looking at the sign for a moment. Link felt the strong desire to throw up from the self-centeredness of it all.

"Pfft, the guy's still a huge dweeb." Itaav chuckled before walking in. The princess, puzzled over Link's scowl and Itaav's mention of 'dweeb' simply followed the two boys in. The open space of clutter within "Grooseland" had a few potential customers already browsing the wares, but it seemed the Groose they were looking for wasn't out in the open. A muffled clanging sound hinted that someone was likely in the open cave doing their metalcraft. Itaav didn't even bother to look through the space, however, heading straight for the open wall (much to the princess's dismay).

As the paler boy was about to enter the shade of the smithy's alcove where the clanging was coming from, an irritating tooting noise made him pause in his steps. It wasn't half a second later that two more tooting sounds of different tones made themselves known, and the sources of the sounds came from the shade and started pushing Itaav back towards the sunny area.

"Crap, I hate Miniblins," Itaav scowled as the three little monsters, a blue, a red, and a yellow, tooted their grating calls and pushed were seemingly threating to clobber him with tongs, bellows, and a hammer.

Zelda immediately hid herself behind Link at the sight of the creatures with a squeak. She'd gotten over Moe the Moblin quickly, but something about Miniblins was so much more shocking. Luckily for her, the creatures were focused completely on Itaav, consistently edging him back until the clanging stopped.

"Hey! Hey, you three, back off the potential customers!" A voice called out from the smithy, getting closer. But the Miniblins ignored, and fnally out of the alcove came a large young man with bright red hair in a pompadour. "Hey! I said back off!" The fellow would go on to chatter aggressively at the Miniblins in his best imitations of their toots.

Those weird sounds coming from the redhead's mouth caught the attention of the Miniblins. The little creatures backed off from Itaav, hanging their heads in some sort of shame before scuttling back into the alcove of a smithy. The redhead's scowling gaze followed them, before turning to face the trio. He looked as if he ws aout to go on apologetically about the behavior of his subordinates, but upon seeing Itaav his jaw dropped. A big grin came on his face and he said, "Well, well, well… Look what _the Pride_ finally spat up!"

Itaav grinned back. "That ol' ship? No way it could hold me back."

"You still hang out with that loser?"

"Right here." Link said in a deadpan voice.

But just as Link spoke, Zelda was finally inching away from his back since the Miniblins were gone. The sneer that Groose directed to Link had vanished, turning into a puzzled look. "And, uh, who's this little lady?" He asked.

The girl looked at Groose, just noticing him. She'd been so alarmed by the Miniblins, she had mostly been focused on them and not why they'd left in the first place. The princess stifled a giggle upon seeing him, mostly because his hair was ridiculous. How did it stand up like that? Stifling her laughter, she said stepped up and did the best curtsey she could muster, "I'm Marin. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Groose."

The redhead grinned, looking impressed, though Link scowled, wishing that Zelda hadn't been so polite.

"Nice to meet you too, Marin. I gotta say, you look freaky close to this girl I know… Are you related to a girl named Hilda who lives around here?" There was a slight fluttering in the redhead's voice when he mentioned the name Hilda.

"Hilda?" Zelda thought for a moment, "I'm afraid not."

"Who's Hilda?" Itaav asked Groose slyly. Link just rolled his eyes. He didn't like this small talk – he just wanted to get whatever information they could from the oaf and leave.

But Groose just sniffed indignantly at Itaav, "Hilda's none of your business." Though after a moment he sighed, irritated, "Besides, she's with that Ravio guy. That smart mouthed, sneaky bastard. Don't see what she likes him for."

"I think I want to meet this Ravio guy." Link commented happily.

"Tch, yeah. Reminds me a bit of you, actually." Groose jeered, taking a hostile step towards Link.

Zelda quickly came into between both of them, "Now, now, let's all be friendly. I mean, Mr. Groose, we came all this way to see you and Itaav is your good friend, right?" She looked hopefully over to the purple haired boy, who had just been standing there and looking on at the growing hostility between the blond haired boy and the red haired one with a grin on his face.

After seeing Zelda's pleading face, however, the pale boy rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, chill out both of you. Groose, we actually need a hand on something."

Link's and Groose's eyes were still locked in a deathly staring contest, but eventually the redhead was the first to break away and look to his pale friend. A relieved Zelda shot Link a disappointed look, but the boy didn't seem to notice. As for Groose, he still looked surly and unhappy, but said, "What do you need?"

"Just got a couple of questions. Do the Gorons here have anything like some sacred pearl or something?" The Engineer asked.

He thought it over for a moment. "Yeah, I think I remember hearing something like that. It's some sort of treasure to them, I think. The Goron Elders are probably in charge of something like that, though I don't think they'll be doing much talking about it."

"Why not?" Zelda asked curiously before Itaav could.

"Well, little lady, the chief's missing." Groose said simply.

"That figures." Itaav grumbled.

"You could still try talking to them about it," Groose mentioned, "Again, no idea how well that'll go over, but the Gorons are as laid back as they come. The only reason they're strung up now is because the Chief's gone."

"And no one knows where he might be?" Link asked.

While Groose didn't look at Link, he still responded haughtily, "That's the definition of _missing_, dumbass."

"That's not a very nice thing to say, Mister Groose." Zelda said quietly.

The bigger fellow looked as if he'd been struck, and with an apologetic blush mumbled, "Yeah well… It's still the definition of missing…"

"Listen it doesn't friggin matter," Itaav snapped, exasperated. He looked to Link and said, "Well, what do we do now?"

Groose looked between the two, "Hey, wait a minute, what's going on? Come to think of it, how'd you guys even get here?"

For a brief second, Link considered telling the redhead it was none of his business. But even he realized that would have been stupid. They didn't have to tell him the whole truth, but certainly they could manage something. "It's a long story." Link said, Itaav and Zelda nodding in agreement.

The redhead looked back and forth from all member of the trio. A part of him really didn't care about anything that had to do with Link, but Itaav was his friend and Marin… Well, Hilda was taken but maybe… He looked back to his smithy and shouted, "Hey, bozos! We're closing shop for the day! Start kicking folks out!" The three Miniblins from before shot out of the smithy "meeping" with their respective trinkets, heading towards the exploring customers and herding them out. "All right, you three. Come inside."

From the state of the house they were lead into, it was easy to guess that the space was needed because it housed the Miniblins as well as the big redhead. Groose lived right by the smithy, easy access and always made sure thieves would have a hard time trying to steal anything, he said. The space was way bigger than anything on the Pride, save for perhaps Inner Wall living spaces, and it was certainly much larger than the small home Moe and Maggie shared on Bleak. Luckily, despite the messiness of the place, the scattered nuts, bolts, and what seemed like random pieces of upholstery, there were clear paths to each room. But they stayed simply in the living room, the Miniblins eventually coming inside but leaving them alone as Link and Itaav took turns telling the story without certain details. When Zelda caught on to what was being left out (demons were replaced with gangsters, the entirety of Dragonroost was blamed on the Gerudo and Zelda was simply a noble and not the princess) she would even occasionally tell parts of the story, though she mostly spoke of her side of the Bleak experience.

"Damn. You actually finished it…" Groose commented, leaning back in his chair and taking in the rest of the story.

"And she died." Itaav finished bitterly. He, Zelda, and Link were sitting in the ruddy couch opposite of Groose's chair.

"Well crap. You three have been through a lot… And shit, Link… taking on the crime lord of Bleak. Guess you're not as much a wimp as I thought." It wasn't said as an insult; Groose was clearly still taking in the ginormity of the story he'd heard up until that point. In fact, throughout the story, it seemed as if he'd grown some respect for Link he hadn't had on _the Pride_.

"Thanks, I suppose." Link grudgingly said. While he knew Groose was trying, he was still sketchy about the fellow.

"And you, little lady – you're… Heck, I don't even know what to say about you. You're amazing!" Groose said, looking at her with admiration.

Zelda blushed. "I was just doing the right thing…"

"Still gutsy… gutsy for all of you… But why do you need that pearl?"

"The Guardians of Dragonroost want to make sure the Gerudo don't obtain them." Zelda piped in quickly. She really didn't like lying, but she understood why Itaav's friend shouldn't know too much. "So they charged us with warning the ones with the pearls."

Link and Itaav nodded along with the explanation, hoping that would be satisfactory. Evidently it was. Groose just let out an impressed whistle, "Man, you three sure got cut a mean slice… Guess this ain't just a friendly visit."

"No. We need to meet with these Elders and leave." Itaav said.

"All right; listen you three, you need any help at all, you got Groose on your side!" The big fellow announced proudly. "Granted, I'm not sure what I can do to help out but… Yeah, I can tell you where the Elders are anyways. They always convene at the temple up the mountain."

"The top?" Link asked. A mountain this size would take days to scale for a human.

"Huh? Drop the face, ol' Groose has got ya covered there." The redhead said, gliding his hand along his pompadour with a confident look on his face.

* * *

"What is it with you Engineers and _deathtraps_?" Link asked as he winced at the sight of one of the cargo wagon that traveled the rails of Goron City.

Groose had lead them to his own personal cargo transporter back in Grooseland, beaming with the same pride that Itaav had had with the _Helmaroc_. Link's comment even illicited a similar reaction to one Itaav would have had. "Hey, the Groosinator ain't a deathtrap – I'm losing the little respect I just got for you." Groose said in a huff.

"Don't take it personally, he can't appreciate genius when he sees it." Itaav added.

"You invented this rail system?" Zelda asked Groose eagerly.

The big fellow puffed out his chest proudly, "Kinda. The Gorons already had the basics down but I perfected it. The carts are reinforced, able to carry a bunch of different things aside from rocks and iron, but more importantly is that these carts are guaranteed not to derail. Even a Goron can't pry'em off the rails." He patted the cart proudly. "All you gotta do is keep pumping those see-saw levers up in the front there to keep it moving. That's what I got those Miniblins for – annoying chatter but they sure got some power in those little arms." Before anyone could make any other comment, Groose faced his home and shouted, "HEY BOZOS, TWO OF YOU GET OUT HERE BEFORE I BOX YOUR EARS IN!"

A chorus of Mininlin meeping came when two of the imps came charging out from the house, immediately taking their place on the front of the cargo crate's see-saw levers. "There ya go, easy access to the Temple." Groose said proudly.

"Thanks, man," Itaav said, "I owe you one."

"You always owe me one."

Link edged towards the cart, eyeing it warily. "You're sure this can carry all of us, no problem?"

Itaav hopped in and said, "Stop being a wimp; this thing's more secure than the _Helmaroc_."

"Ummmm…." Zelda inched towards Link, her gaze anxiously going from the blond boy to the Miniblins. "May… may I stay here… with Mister Groose?"

"Why?" Link asked, somewhat taken aback. "We can't just leave you behind."

But the girl fidgeted, "I'm just not so sure…"

"Link, she'll be fine with Groose." Itaav said, recognizing the girl's fear of the Miniblins. He looked over to Groose, "Right?"

The redhead looked surprised, "Yeah, sure. I don't mind." In fact, Link noted, he actually looked pretty happy about it.

"But what if-" Link began to object, but Itaav cut him off, "Just get in the damned cart, if worse comes to worst, we'll come pick her up. Right?" This time he looked to Zelda.

She nodded happily, "Yes! Don't worry Link, everything will be fine!"

The blond boy looked pained, but he finally said, "All right, fine. We'll be back later then." He gingerly entered the cart, really wishing Zelda was coming with them. The Scaler had to remind himself that he couldn't be so paranoid. Cole wasn't aware of what they were up to, and the Gerudo were probably just as lost as the demon was, if not more. And it was just a little bit. Maybe an hour or two at most just speaking with the Elders.

The Miniblins began pumping the see-saw up and down, the cart moving slowly at first before the momentum picked up. Zelda waved them off, wishing them luck, and the cart began to get rather speedy as the Miniblins happily meeped away as they continued pushing the levers up and down. "Relax, Link," Itaav assured, "We're just gonna talk to a bunch of old farts for a sec. They're probably gonna turn us down anyways, so it should be over pretty fast."

That didn't put Link at ease, however. "Then what are we gonna do?"

Itaav shrugged. "Cross that bridge when we get to it."

* * *

SO AFTER FOREVER, here's a chapter. I'm just not going to make any promises for when the next chapter is. It'll just happen, there. Anyways, I had to cut this chapter short. It was supposed to be longer, but if I kept going it would've been too long!

ANYWAYS, in this chapter, I'm really glad I waited for A Link Between Worlds to be out. First an foremost, let me say I have NOT played it yet! So I swear if anyone leaves a spoiler in a review, I'LL CUT YA. Anyways, a pairing from that game I'm already fond of is HildaRavio. I DON'T KNOW WHY. But maybe it's because I have a headcanon that's Hilda's a dom and Ravio is a sassy sub (thanks tumblr!). But a problem I had in the chapter was that I didn't want Groose to be as head over heels about Zelda as he was in Skyward Sword. She already has two guys and a possible third (Blind) after her. So I decided that while he won't pursue her, he is somewhat interested but is more focused on Hilda and how to get Ravio out of the way. Ohohoho.

I don't have much else to say honestly.

**Sky Arrow**, Oh. Um, belated happy birthday? AM I TOO TOO LATE? -sweats nervously- ANYWAYS, yes, I'm swinging both ways on the pairing here on purpose. Love triangles! A part of me is actually thinking of just ending the story without her ending up with either of them, but at the same time I really like the way I plan to end it. In all likelihood, it's not going to change. As for Groose, I decided that I didn't want him being head over heels for Zelda. We already have two guys interested in her, and I have hinted that Blind may or may not be interested. I really don't want to add anyone else to the mix. SO, I decided with the realse of a Link BBetween Worlds, I'd have him primarily ineterested in Hilda! Mwahahaha!

**fleets**, I actually was planning on him not being in the costume throughout the diration of the story, but eventually I said, "EFF IT" because why not. XD As for Valoo and Jabun, all I'll say is that they know but they're not going to do anything about it, mostly because they don't know how to deal with it. Vaati, after all, was before their time. Not to mention a reincarnation doesn't necessarily mean he'll turn out the exact same, so they don't know what to do or if they should do anything at all. Right now, their prime concern is the more immediate threat of Malladus. I actually really, really, really like Ganondorf... But only as he appeared in Wind Waker. Because he has an actual personality. At the same time, this Ganondorf is descended from that one, so it's not him and it's a completely different character. Sorta. EH. WE'LL GET THERE WHEN WE GET THERE. I have actually only ever come across one in the Legend of Korra section. I was reading it for a while, but I really was unimpressed with the writer's style so I stopped... Last I checked, she was at around 140 chapters. I don't think mine will be quite THAT long, but it'll be long. XD Thanks, dear~


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